London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

Cardinal and nine others face Vatican corruption charges over London property deal

Cardinal and nine others face Vatican corruption charges over London property deal

Cardinal Angelo Becciu, who was fired by Pope Francis last year over a donation to his brother's charity, helped arrange the initial investment but denies any wrongdoing.

An Italian cardinal and nine others have been ordered to stand trial by a Vatican judge for alleged corruption in connection with a €350m (£300m) luxury property deal in London.

Those accused include Cardinal Angelo Becciu, who was fired by Pope Francis last year; the former heads of the Vatican's financial intelligence unit, and two Italian businessmen involved in the Vatican's purchase of the building in an exclusive area of the capital.

Becciu, who has always maintained his innocence during a two-year investigation, is the highest ranking Vatican-based church official to be charged with alleged financial crimes.

Pope Francis personally approved the judge's decision to investigate and indict Becciu


His name was listed separately from the others in the indictment because a separate procedure is required to charge a cardinal.

In line with church law, the pope personally approved the judge's decision to investigate and indict Becciu, who helped arrange the initial London investment.

The charges against him include embezzlement and abuse of office.

An Italian woman who worked for Becciu was charged with embezzlement.

Italian brokers Gianluigi Torzi and Raffaele Mincione were indicted on charges of embezzlement, fraud and money laundering.

Torzi, for whom Italian magistrates issued an arrest warrant in April, was also charged with extortion.

He is currently in London pending an Italian extradition request.

Both men have denied wrongdoing.

Torzi is accused of having having extorted €15m from the Vatican to turn over ownership of the London building in late 2018, after allegedly inserting a last-minute clause into the contract giving him full voting rights in the deal.

The church hierarchy, however, signed off on the contract, with both Pope Francis' number two, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and his deputy approving it.

However, neither was charged.

Vatican prosecutors have produced evidence suggesting they were tricked by an Italian lawyer, who has been indicted, into agreeing to the deal.

Four companies associated with individual defendants, two in Switzerland, one in the US and one in Slovenia, are also facing charges.

The trial is due to start on 27 July in the Vatican, a statement said.

Becciu was sacked last year as the Vatican's saint-making chief, apparently in connection with a separate incident relating to the his €100,000 donation of Vatican funds to a diocesan charity run by his brother.

While admitting he made the donation, he insisted the money was for the charity, not his brother.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Massive Strikes in France Pressure Macron and New PM on Austerity Proposals
Trump Seeks Supreme Court Permission to Remove Fed Governor Lisa Cook
Hillary Clinton’s Reckless Rhetoric Fuels Division After Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
NASDAQ Rises to Record as Intel Soars More Than 20%, Nvidia Gains 3%
Nvidia’s $5 Billion Bet on Intel Reshapes AI Hardware Landscape
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Trump’s Quip on Biden and Google Lawsuit Revives Debate Over Antitrust Legacy
Macron and his wife to provide 'scientific photographic evidence' that she is a real woman
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
×