Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Sep 01, 2025

Vatican indicts 10 people, including a cardinal, over an international financial scandal

Vatican indicts 10 people, including a cardinal, over an international financial scandal

The Vatican has indicted 10 people, including an Italian cardinal, for several alleged financial crimes including extortion, corruption, fraud, forgery, embezzlement and abuse of power.
The investigation, which started in July 2019, was carried out by the Vatican in cooperation with Italian authorities and revealed "a vast network of ties between financial market operators who generated substantial losses for the Vatican finances," a statement from the Vatican said on Saturday.

Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu was indicted "for the crimes of embezzlement, abuse of office ... and bribery," the Vatican added. Becciu allegedly used money from the Vatican to benefit his two brothers' businesses, according to a detailed report by Vatican News, which is what led the Pope to fire the cardinal last year.

Becciu, who once held a powerful position in the Vatican's Secretariat of State, said on Saturday in a statement he is a victim of a "conspiracy" against him and maintained his innocence. Vatican laws require the Pope to sign off on any investigation and indictment of a cardinal.

Becciu, 73, was created cardinal by Pope Francis in 2018 and made the head of the office that oversees canonizations of saints. From 2011, he served as the "substitute" in the Vatican's Secretariat of State, a powerful position similar to chief-of-staff.

The alleged illegal activities found by the investigation regard investments using charity money into "extremely high-risk financial activity" for personal gains, which include an investment in the fossil fuel industry in Angola, that could amount to more than 200 million, according to a detailed report from Vatican News.

The investigation also allegedly found wrongdoing surrounding the purchase and sale of a "grossly overestimated"-priced property in London, during which the indicted allegedly was complicit in performing forgery and extortion, among other crimes, Vatican News said on Saturday.

Saturday's indictment also targets René Brulhart, former president of the Vatican's Financial Information Authority, and Tommaso di Ruzza, its former director, as well as four companies from the US, Slovenia and Switzerland.

Brulhart has called the indictment a "procedural blunder" and added he always carried out his duties "with correctness, loyalty and in the exclusive interest of the Holy See," he said in a statement.

The trial will begin on July 27.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
Ukrainian Nationalist Politician Andriy Parubiy Assassinated in Lviv
Corporate America Cuts Middle Management as Bosses Take On Triple the Workload
Parents Sue OpenAI After Teen’s Death, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Suicide
Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'Buy' Label on Digital Streaming Content
Federal Reserve Independence Questioned Amid Trump’s Push to Reshape Central Bank
British Politics Faces Tumultuous Autumn After Summer of Rebellions and Rising Farage Momentum
US Appeals Court Rules Against Most Trump-Era Tariffs
UK Sought Broad Access to Apple Users’ Data, Court Filing Reveals
UK Bank Shares Dive Over Potential Tax on Sector
Germany’s Auto Industry Sheds 51,500 Jobs in First Half of 2025 Amid Deepening Crisis
Bruce Willis Relocated Due to Advanced Dementia
French and Korean Nuclear Majors Clash As EU Launches Foreign Subsidy Probe
EU Stands Firm on Digital Rules as Trump Warns of Retaliation
Getting Ready for the 3rd Time in Its History, Germany Approves Voluntary Military Service for Teenagers
Argentine President Javier Milei Evacuated After Stones Thrown During Campaign Event
Denmark Confronts U.S. Diplomat Over Covert Trump-Linked Influence in Greenland
Starmer Should Back Away from ECHR, Says Jack Straw
Trump Demands RICO Charges Against George Soros and Son for Funding Violent Protests
Taylor Swift Announces Engagement to NFL Star Travis Kelce
France May Need IMF Bailout, Warns Finance Minister
Chinese AI Chipmaker Cambricon Posts Record Profit as Beijing Pushes Pivot from Nvidia
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
Ukraine Finally Allows Young Men Aged Eighteen to Twenty-Two to Leave the Country
The Porn Remains, Privacy Disappears: How Britain Broke the Internet in Ten Days
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Welcome to The Definition of Insanity: Germany Edition
Just a reminder, this is Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris.
Spotify’s Strange Move: The Feature Nobody Asked For – Returns
Manhunt in Australia: Armed Anti-Government Suspect Kills Police Officers Sent to Arrest Him
China Launches World’s Most Powerful Neutrino Detector
How Beijing-Linked Networks Shape Elections in New York City
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
2 Australian Police Shot Dead In Encounter In Rural Victoria State
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
UK Government Delays Decision on China’s Proposed London Embassy Amid Concerns Over Redacted Plans
A 150-Year Tradition to Be Abolished? Uproar Over the Popular Central Park Attraction
×