Cardinal Gets 5 1/2 Years For Fleecing Vatican

The Vatican City court has sentenced Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, once touted as a possible papal contender, to 5 1/2 years in prison for mismanaging a Vatican property portfolio, which included a luxury flat in London, Phoebe Natanson reported for ABC News.

Becciu, the former Substitute for General Affairs in the Vatican Secretariat of State, is the highest-ranking Vatican official ever to face financial charges. I Photo: Claude TRUONG-NGOC Wikimedia Commons

Becciu is the first cardinal to be tried in Vatican City's criminal court by lay judges. He retained his title but was stripped of his rights as a cardinal, including the right to participate in a papal conclave, after being incriminated in this case.

Becciu, the former Substitute for General Affairs in the Vatican Secretariat of State, is the highest-ranking Vatican official ever to face financial charges.

He was convicted on two counts of embezzlement and one of aggravated fraud, according to the Italian news agency ANSA. He was acquitted of other counts of embezzlement, abuse of office, and witness tampering.

The court also fined Becciu 8,000 euros and banned him from public office for life. Becciu's defense lawyer, Fabio Viglione, said he and his client "respect the sentence" but will appeal.

Eight other defendants were convicted Saturday, and one, Msgr. Mauro Carlino, the former personal secretary to Becciu, was acquitted.

Prison sentences for the other defendants ranged from three years and 9 months to seven years and six months. The defendants were ordered by the court to pay damages of over 200 million euros in total.

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