Cardinal problems Vatican cop over hostage payments
VATICAN Town — The Vatican’s fraud and corruption trial took a remarkable twist Wednesday when a at the time-strong cardinal challenged the Vatican’s law enforcement commissioner on the stand about just one of the much more peculiar tangents of the scenario: the Vatican’s 50 percent-million euro payments to a self-styled safety analyst who, with Pope Francis’ blessing, assisted organize negotiations for the release of a nun held hostage by Islamic militants.
Cardinal Angelo Becciu created a spontaneous declaration to the Vatican tribunal during the interrogation of Commissioner Stefano De Santis, a top officer in the Vatican gendarmes police force and a important prosecution witness. De Santis was a person of the major investigators in the probe that led to the demo about the Holy See’s 350 million euro expenditure in a London house venture and related conditions.
Vatican prosecutors have accused 10 individuals, like Becciu, of a host of alleged financial crimes and of fleecing the Holy See of tens of thousands and thousands of euros in expenses, commission and other losses.
De Santis was becoming questioned about just one of the tangents of the London residence deal, relating to Becciu’s relations with the security analyst, Cecilia Marogna.
Becciu, who was the No. 3 in the Vatican secretariat of condition at the time, has formerly explained to the courtroom that he hired Marogna in 2015 as an external security advisor and subsequently included her in negotiations to employ a British stability agency to negotiate the release of a Colombian nun becoming held hostage in Mali by al-Qaida-linked militants.
Becciu instructed the court in May perhaps that Francis had licensed investing up to 1 million euros to free the nun, who was inevitably permit go previous year, though he pressured it was not ransom.
De Santis advised the courtroom that the Vatican gendarmes learned via Interpol in 2020 that Marogna’s Slovenia-dependent corporation experienced gained 575,000 euros in 9 independent wire transfers from the secretariat of state for purportedly “humanitarian” endeavors, but that the income was currently being used to pay out for cosmetics and other substantial-close luxury products.
He mentioned he and the Vatican’s police chief went to Becciu’s condominium on Oct. 3, 2020 at the cardinal’s request and informed him what they had discovered.
De Santis advised the courtroom that Becciu begged them to not let word of the Marogna payments get out, saying it would harm him and his spouse and children, and presented to refund the funds from his account at the Vatican bank.
Becciu took issue with De Santis’ edition of functions in his spontaneous handle to the courtroom, and reminded the three-choose panel of his prior testimony: that the payments for the hostage negotiation had been agreed on with Francis and that only he and the pope realized about them, w ith the Vatican gendarmes intentionally saved in the dim.
Becciu advised the court that he did not ask for the assembly and found it odd that De Santis would expose its contents due to the fact the police officers had instructed him at the time that it experienced to continue to be mystery because there were professional implications about revealing the contents of an ongoing investigation.
Becciu reported he was certainly anguished to study that Vatican police ended up investigating Marogna, but said his anguish experienced very little to do with his relatives but alternatively the fact that Francis and he had hoped to retain the hostage negotiations magic formula.
Becciu is accused of abuse of office and alleged embezzlement for getting sent 125,000 in Holy See cash to a Sardinian charity run by his brother. Marogna is accused of fraud and embezzlement. Both equally deny wrongdoing.
The trial, which resumed late previous month immediately after a summertime pause, has picked up tempo and has almost 20 hearings scheduled before the conclusion of the yr. Prosecutors have nearly 30 witnesses and legal professionals for the 10 defendants have dozens additional, together with the existing Vatican No. 2 and 3.
VATICAN Town — The Vatican’s fraud and corruption trial took a remarkable twist Wednesday when a at the time-strong cardinal challenged the Vatican’s law enforcement commissioner on the stand about just one of the much more peculiar tangents of the scenario: the Vatican’s 50 percent-million euro payments to a self-styled safety analyst who, with Pope Francis’ blessing, assisted organize negotiations for the release of a nun held hostage by Islamic militants.
Cardinal Angelo Becciu created a spontaneous declaration to the Vatican tribunal during the interrogation of Commissioner Stefano De Santis, a top officer in the Vatican gendarmes police force and a important prosecution witness. De Santis was a person of the major investigators in the probe that led to the demo about the Holy See’s 350 million euro expenditure in a London house venture and related conditions.
Vatican prosecutors have accused 10 individuals, like Becciu, of a host of alleged financial crimes and of fleecing the Holy See of tens of thousands and thousands of euros in expenses, commission and other losses.
De Santis was becoming questioned about just one of the tangents of the London residence deal, relating to Becciu’s relations with the security analyst, Cecilia Marogna.
Becciu, who was the No. 3 in the Vatican secretariat of condition at the time, has formerly explained to the courtroom that he hired Marogna in 2015 as an external security advisor and subsequently included her in negotiations to employ a British stability agency to negotiate the release of a Colombian nun becoming held hostage in Mali by al-Qaida-linked militants.
Becciu instructed the court in May perhaps that Francis had licensed investing up to 1 million euros to free the nun, who was inevitably permit go previous year, though he pressured it was not ransom.
De Santis advised the courtroom that the Vatican gendarmes learned via Interpol in 2020 that Marogna’s Slovenia-dependent corporation experienced gained 575,000 euros in 9 independent wire transfers from the secretariat of state for purportedly “humanitarian” endeavors, but that the income was currently being used to pay out for cosmetics and other substantial-close luxury products.
He mentioned he and the Vatican’s police chief went to Becciu’s condominium on Oct. 3, 2020 at the cardinal’s request and informed him what they had discovered.
De Santis advised the courtroom that Becciu begged them to not let word of the Marogna payments get out, saying it would harm him and his spouse and children, and presented to refund the funds from his account at the Vatican bank.
Becciu took issue with De Santis’ edition of functions in his spontaneous handle to the courtroom, and reminded the three-choose panel of his prior testimony: that the payments for the hostage negotiation had been agreed on with Francis and that only he and the pope realized about them, w ith the Vatican gendarmes intentionally saved in the dim.
Becciu advised the court that he did not ask for the assembly and found it odd that De Santis would expose its contents due to the fact the police officers had instructed him at the time that it experienced to continue to be mystery because there were professional implications about revealing the contents of an ongoing investigation.
Becciu reported he was certainly anguished to study that Vatican police ended up investigating Marogna, but said his anguish experienced very little to do with his relatives but alternatively the fact that Francis and he had hoped to retain the hostage negotiations magic formula.
Becciu is accused of abuse of office and alleged embezzlement for getting sent 125,000 in Holy See cash to a Sardinian charity run by his brother. Marogna is accused of fraud and embezzlement. Both equally deny wrongdoing.
The trial, which resumed late previous month immediately after a summertime pause, has picked up tempo and has almost 20 hearings scheduled before the conclusion of the yr. Prosecutors have nearly 30 witnesses and legal professionals for the 10 defendants have dozens additional, together with the existing Vatican No. 2 and 3.