8chan/8kun QResearch Posts (15)
#20085527 at 2023-12-16 23:15:09 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #24650: Triple Wrapped Stupidity: No Plastic Bags For Carrots & Apples? Edition
Cardinal Becciu guilty
December 16, 2023 . 12:36 PM
The long-running Vatican finance trial ended Saturday with a guilty verdict for Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, along with convictions for several other former Vatican officials and businessmen who worked with the Vatican.
https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/cardinal-Becciu-guilty
#15918519 at 2022-03-22 16:25:44 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #20130: Hunters Laptop From Hell Edition
Vatican-watching anon here, with a non-Hunter-related story.
Anons will remember that Cardinal Becciu got busted for involvement in spending millions from the annual "Peter's Pence" collection (to be used for the poor/needy) on buying pricey real estate in London.
Becciu got stripped of his Cardinal's hat, and is on trial for corruption etc. Even Vatican experts can't figure out wtf is actually going on–but SOMETHING is going on behind the scenes here, involving the Vatican and money-mismanagement.
This Italian religion journalist is very solid, has good sources, and can't STAND Pope Francis.
"After nine hearings blocked by procedural obstacles, there began on March 17 what the international media are calling "the trial of the century," conducted against Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu and other defendants mainly on account of the disastrous purchase of a building on Sloane Avenue in London, by the secretariat of state.
In the previous hearing of March 1, the judges of the Vatican tribunal presided over by Giuseppe Pignatone, in a 40-page decree, rejected as unfounded all the objections to the validity of the trial raised up to that point by the defense attorneys.
That does not change the fact that the reputation of the judicial system in place at the Vatican, which this trial is laying bare, continues to be terrible. The major international press outlets, from the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" to the "Corriere della Sera" to "The Economist," have found themselves in agreement in judging it as deficient in the constitutive elements of a modern rule of law.
In fact, at the Vatican and in particular during this pontificate - so highly proclaimed to the world as modernizing - there is no "rule of law" that applies to everyone, because above every codified rule there is the supreme power of the pope, who at any moment orders and does what he wants without anyone being able to judge him…"
https://magister.blogautore.espresso.repubblica.it/2022/03/22/judge-and-defendant-the-pope's-two-bodies-in-the-trial-of-the-century/
#14966177 at 2021-11-10 13:56:49 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #18933: Audit 50 States FFS Edition
Even The Tyler's are using Q verbiage now:
----------–
Vatican Loses $135M In Shady London Property Deal Amid Allegations Of Massive Fraud
BY TYLER DURDEN
WEDNESDAY, NOV 10, 2021 - 04:15 AM
Even God's top authority on Earth has trouble with the simplest investing precept: buy low and sell high.
After a scandal that has dragged on for more than a year and led to the firing of one of the Holy See's most senior officials over a handful of shady London property deals that were bleeding millions in losses, the Vatican has finally decided to rip the bandaid off and sell a luxury office building in London's Knightsbridge neighborhood for a loss of ?100MM ($135MM).
Per the FT, the Vatican is in the final stages of selling 60 Sloane Ave., a large building in the Knightsbridge district of London, for about ?200MM ($271MM) to private equity group Bain Capital. Bain Capital and Savills, which is managing the sale, both declined to comment. Senior Holy See officials - including Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, the second-in-command of the Vatican's powerful Secretariat of State - invested a total of ?350MM ($405MM) of money donated to the Catholic Church for charitable purposes in London properties including the Sloane Ave. building between 2014 and 2018.
Vatican investigators say the money was taken from Peter's Pence, an annual donation given by Catholics around the world which, according to the Vatican, is intended "for the many different needs of the universal church and for the relief of those most in need."
At one point, the Vatican had a plan to convert the London building into luxury flats. Instead, the building has ended up at the heart of a scandal that has forced the Vatican to overhaul completely the way it manages its finances.
Late last year, Pope Francis stripped the Vatican's powerful central administration office of an investment portfolio worth hundreds of millions of euros comprising donations from the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.
Several property agents who spoke to the FT expressed surprise at the losses generated by the deal.
"I couldn't quite understand how they [the Vatican] had lost money on it," said one agent with decades of experience in the London office market.
Whatever transpired during the deal, it appears to have reached "the Godfather III" levels of shadiness as Vatican prosecutors have charged a former Italian banker with crimes including embezzlement and fraud. The Vatican's prosecutors recently paused charges against the banker and a small group of alleged co-conspirators including a cardinal. The prosecution is now in a state of legal limbo.
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/vatican-loses-135m-shady-london-property-deal-amid-allegations-massive-fraud
#14050239 at 2021-07-04 05:19:53 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #17779: EBake post rally
Vatican indicts 10, including cardinal, for financial crimes
The Vatican on Saturday announced that is charging 10 people with financial crimes, including a prominent Italian cardinal. The charges included embezzlement, money laundering, fraud, extortion and abuse of office relating to financial investments the financial arm of the Vatican made in London in 2018.
Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, who used to hold a senior office position in the Vatican administration, will go on trial on July 27, along with two top officials at the Vatican's Financial Intelligence Unit. The trial centers around the multi-million euro purchase by the Vatican of a building in one of London's nicest districts.
The Vatican made their investigation of the crimes public in 2019, when Vatican police raided the the offices of the Secretariat of State, the central administrator of the Catholic Church and offices of the Vatican's Financial Information Authority.
The Vatican claims that the Secretariat of State purchased around half of a commercial and residential building at 60 Sloane Avenue in London's Chelsea district in 2014 for 200 million euros. Much of the funds for the purchase allegedly came from contributions from the faithful.
Becciu, now 73, was asked in 2020 by Pope Francis to resign over allegations of embezzlement and nepotism. He is currently the most senior Vatican official to be charged with financial crimes, but has maintained his innocence during the two-year investigation. Becciu kept his title, but lost all his privileges as a cardinal, including the right to vote for the next pope.
Pope Francis gave the required approval last week for the cardinal to be indicted, which was detailed in a 487-page indictment request, according to Reuters. The Vatican announced the indictments in a two-page statement.
The allegations against Becciu include "the crimes of embezzlement and abuse of office, also in collaboration, as well as subornation." The cardinal's former secretary was charged with extortion, and an Italian woman who worked for him was also charged with embezzlement.
Four companies that had dealings with the individual defendants, including one company in Slovenia, one in United States and two in Switzerland, were also indicted, according to the press release.
Gianluigi Torzi and Raffaele Mincione, two Italian brokers who worked with Becciu, were charged with embezzlement, fraud and money laundering.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/vatican-indicts-10-including-cardinal-for-financial-crimes/
#13767678 at 2021-05-27 19:09:09 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #17430: Anglo-American bio-lab network Edition
>>13767605
>>13766426 pb
Pope Francis announces names of fourteen new cardinals
May 2018
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2018-05/pope-francis-new-cardinals-angelus.html
The names of the new Cardinals are:
His Beatitude Louis Raphaël I Sako - Chaldean Catholic Patriarch of Babylon
His Excellency Luis Ladaria -Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
His Excellency Angelo De Donatis - Vicar General of Rome
His Excellency Giovanni Angelo Becciu - Substitute of the Secretary of State and Special Delegate for the Sovereign Military Order of Malta
His Excellency Konrad Krajewski - Almoner of the Office of Papal Charities
His Excellency Joseph Coutts - Archbishop of Karachi
His Excellency António dos Santos Marto - Bishop of Leiria-Fátima
His Excellency Pedro Barreto - Archbishop of Huancayo
His Excellency Desiré Tsarahazana - Archbishop of Toamasina
His Excellency Giuseppe Petrocchi - Archbishop of L'Aquila
His Excellency Thomas Aquinas Manyo - Archbishop of Osaka
His Excellency Sergio Obeso Rivera - Emeritus Archbishop of Xalapa.
His Excellency Toribio Ticona Porco - Emeritus Bishop of Corocoro.
Reverend Father Aquilino Bocos Merino - member of the Claretian order.
#12658052 at 2021-01-22 00:40:51 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #16161: Can You Introduce Evidence At An Impeachment Trial? Edition
Vatican bank's former chief found guilty of money laundering, sentenced to nearly 9 years in prison
The 81-year-old was handed an eight year, 11 month jail term on Thursday, making him the highest-ranking Vatican official to be convicted of a financial crime. His lawyer is appealing his sentence.
Caloia was president of the bank known as Institute of Works of Religion (IOR) from 1999 to 2009. He and two lawyers who consulted for the bank were charged with embezzling money while managing the sale of Italian real estate owned by IOR between 2001-2008, allegedly declaring less than the actual amount of the sale.
The Vatican court also convicted the two lawyers. Gabriele Liuzzo, 97, received the same sentence as Caloia. Liuzzo's son, Lamberto Liuzzo, age 55, was handed a five years, two month term.
Each man will also have to pay fines and are banned from public office in perpetuity, according to a press release from the Vatican.
All three denied wrongdoing during the trial, which started in 2018.
Former president of the IOR Vatican bank, Angelo Caloia is pictured during a court hearing on embezzlement charges at the Vatican.
In September 2020 Giovanni Angelo Becciu, one of the Vatican's powerful cardinals, resigned from his post amid financial scandal.
https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/79080/vatican-banks-former-chief-found-guilty-of-money-laundering-sentenced-to-nearly-9-years-in.html
#11164290 at 2020-10-20 04:01:21 (UTC+1)
Q Research General 14274: Edition Edition
Pope needs transparency, zero tolerance to end Vatican's
financial corruption
Oct 19, 2020
by Michael Sean Winters
Jesus warned us that money and faith do not mix very well. And one of the greatest tragedies in the history of Christendom, the Reformation, was sparked in part by disgust at the wealth that had been accumulated by the successors of Peter and the cardinals who advised them. Closer to our own time, we can recall the memory of Chicago-born Archbishop Paul Marcinkus who led the Vatican bank into a series of shady investments and the Banco Ambrosiano scandal, for which the Vatican paid out $244 million to the failed bank's creditors.
So, the allegations of financial malfeasance surrounding Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu are not entirely surprising. Much remains to be learned, but this much is clear already: Pope Francis' reputation before history as a reformer will depend in large part on his ability to confront this scandal head on and use it to uproot the procedures, policies and personalities that made it possible.
The current scandal broke into public view almost a year ago when police raided the Vatican Secretariat of State looking for evidence of financial wrongdoing. Shortly after, the head of the Vatican's "watchdog" agency for financial matters, Rene Brülhart, resigned at the end of his five-year term, in part because the police had also raided his office. Brülhart was considered a straight shooter and so the decision likely raised alarms at international watchdog agencies. The decision to raid Brülhart's office apparently resulted in the resignation of the police chief.
Then, at the beginning of the summer, the Vatican announced the arrest of investor Gianluigi Torzi on charges of extortion, fraud and money laundering after details of a shady real estate deal involving luxury apartments in London came to light. Commenting on that mess earlier this month, the head of the Vatican Secretariat for the Economy, Jesuit Fr. Juan Antonio Guerrero Alves, said the Holy See had been "swindled" by its investors.
The stakes hit the roof, however, last month when Becciu was removed as prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, his rights as a cardinal were stripped from him, and he held a press conference where he filled in some of the details the Vatican press office had not regarding the charges against him. And, last week, a laywoman, Cecilia Marogna, was arrested by Italian police on a Vatican warrant. Marogna's firm apparently received hundreds of thousands of euros from her fellow Sardinian, Becciu.
What a mess! "Things are going to get worse, probably a lot worse, before they get better," a well connected prelate told me about the unfolding financial scandal.
Pope Francis famously does not like to humiliate subordinates publicly. He may find himself forced to do a better job explaining what the investigations he authorized have found and how he plans to confront this recurring corruption. It is hard to see how the corruption can be eradicated without a large infusion of mandatory transparency. There is a reason most decent regimes have adopted financial transparency regulations and support international organizations that help ferret out corruption, money laundering and other fiscal crimes.
The Gospel has a verse that is on point, Matthew 5:15 - "nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house" - but there are other Gospel values at stake, especially for a pope: mercy, non-judgmentalism, compassion. Trying to reform the Vatican must be like living with an alcoholic: You want to be supportive without becoming an enabler, you know you can't trust the veracity of what you are told, and the most loving thing you can do is say "no." Perhaps the Holy Father and his team should start attending Al-Anon.
MORE AT LINK:
https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/distinctly-catholic/pope-needs-transparency-zero-tolerance-end-vaticans-financial
#10997258 at 2020-10-09 15:35:17 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #14066: Gods Will Be Done for this Board This Day! Edition
Power struggles entangle the Vatican
Battlegrounds are alleged financial crimes, sexual abuse scandals
and Pope Francis's reform efforts
Tony Barber 6 HOURS AGO
Sometimes for excellent reasons, presidents and prime ministers in democracies are prone to suspect plots aimed at removing them or forcing fundamental policy changes. The reign of Pope Francis, now in its eighth year, testifies to the fact that ruthless power struggles go on at the Vatican, too.
The infighting revolves around alleged financial crimes, sexual abuse scandals, doctrinal disputes and Pope Francis's efforts to reform the Vatican's administrative apparatus. All are being weaponised in a contest for control of the Roman Catholic Church that has persisted since the death in 2005 of John Paul II, the second-longest-serving pope in the Church's more than 2,000-year history.
What distinguishes these events from turbulent episodes in earlier eras, such as the Italian Renaissance, is that they are tangled up with political battles and culture wars being fought in the US and other western societies, not to mention Africa and Asia. Rightwing secular politicians are aligned with ultra-conservative clerics in wanting to see the back of the Pope and his reforms. Liberal politicians and progressives among the world's Roman Catholics, estimated by the Vatican to number more than 1.3bn people, hope that he will succeed.
Matters came to the boil last month when the Argentine-born pope took the unusual step of forcing the resignation of Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, an Italian prelate, on grounds of suspected embezzlement of Church funds. The cardinal, who denies wrongdoing, lost his job as head of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, the Vatican agency that oversees canonisations.
Cardinal Becciu was a very powerful figure from 2011 to 2018 at the Curia, the Holy See's central administrative organ. As number two at the Curia's secretariat of state, he was at daggers drawn with Cardinal George Pell, an Australian whom the Pope appointed in 2014 to bring transparency to the Vatican's notoriously opaque finances.
Cardinal Pell was sentenced to prison in Melbourne last year for sexual molestation of two choirboys, but in April Australia's highest court overturned his conviction. Now allegations have surfaced in the Italian media that Cardinal Becciu tried to influence his rival's trial by bribing a witness for his testimony. Both the Italian cardinal and the witness reject the allegations as false.
The clashes show how controversies at the Holy See overlap. Cardinal Becciu was behind a multimillion-pound London property deal that is under investigation by Vatican magistrates. Until he lost his job last year, Cardinal Pell's responsibility was to throw light on precisely such mysterious investments.
Rival Vatican factions and their allies in national Catholic hierarchies are seizing on these and other scandals to discredit their opponents in matters of religious doctrine. During his reign, Pope Francis has put much effort into wresting control of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican agency that enforces theological discipline, from the conservatives who held sway after 1981 under John Paul and Benedict XVI, his successor.
Pope Francis distanced himself from his two predecessors in 2016 by publishing an apostolic exhortation, Amoris Laetitia, which aired the possibility of allowing divorced and remarried Catholics to receive the sacraments. Conservatives reacted with fury to what would be a sharp break with Catholic tradition.
Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, a former papal nuncio, or ambassador, to the US, called in 2018 for Francis's resignation. In this US election year, the archbishop has emerged as a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump and has endorsed various dark conspiracy theories dear to the radical right.
MORE AT LINK:
https://www.ft.com/content
FT uses tracky links so again, if you want the article, all you have
to do is search a minute as it's there.
The BLAME FRANCIS, BLAME THE DEVIL, BLAME SOMEONE!
Movement is failing and this anon will document the fall all the way
to the bottom.
#10996814 at 2020-10-09 14:53:06 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #14066: Gods Will Be Done for this Board This Day! Edition
VATICAN GAMBLED DONATIONS ON DERIVATIVES
by Jules Gomes - ChurchMilitant.com - October 9, 2020
Pope savages speculation hours after revelations of new scandal
VATICAN CITY (ChurchMilitant.com) - Pope Francis ranted against market speculation hours after the Financial Times revealed that the Vatican had invested donations for the poor to bet on the creditworthiness of now-bankrupt U.S. rental car company, Hertz.
The Vatican's Secretariat of State, under recently disgraced Cdl. Giovanni Angelo Becciu, used a ?528 million Vatican-donations portfolio to purchase credit default swaps (CDS) based on a gamble that Hertz would not default on its debts by April 2020.
A CDS is a financial derivative that allows an investor to swap or offset his or her credit risk with that of another investor. Derivatives are financial contracts whose value depends on the future price of an asset such as a share, a currency, a commodity or an index.
Because of the potential risks that derivatives entail and their potential impact on the volatility of spot markets, economists have described them as "wild beasts" and "weapons of mass destruction."
Derivatives, used primarily for hedging, can also spur speculation to the point of destabilizing markets and have spawned numerous bankruptcies.
The Vatican escaped by the narrow margin of a month and gained from its gamble, after Hertz filed for bankruptcy in May 2020 following the economic crisis created by the Wuhan pandemic.
While 16,000 employees lost their jobs, Hertz CEO Kathryn Marinello pocketed over $9 million in total compensation.
MORE AT LINK:
https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/vatican-gambled-donations-on-risky-derivatives
Pelican news all day every day
Cry moar?
Maybe it your time to exit stage left as the [P]ain is only just begun.
#10929607 at 2020-10-05 09:02:40 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #13983: Anons Dig The Trenches Edition
Cardinal Pell is godfather III
Former cardinal denies trying to bribe witnesses in George Pell's sex abuse trial by sending them $1.1million in a bid to derail Vatican anti-corruption probe
Catholic cardinal has been accused of using Vatican funds to bribe witnesses
Giovanni Angelo Becciu is suspected of wiring the cash to recipients in Australia
Cardinal Becciu issued a strongly worded denial of the reports in Italian paper
Cardinal Pell was accused of molesting choir boys in Melbourne in the 1990s
Cardinal Pell returned to Rome last month after 13 months in jail and acquittal
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8805091/Disgraced-cardinal-denies-sending-1-1million-witnesses-George-Pells-sex-abuse-trial.html
#10833080 at 2020-09-29 10:23:16 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #13864: It's All Comin' Down Graveyard Edition
Vatican Scandal's Trail to Credit Suisse
Tuesday, 29 September 2020 12:43
The long-running Vatican scandal has cost a cardinal his privileges. He is linked to ill-fated real estate investments through Credit Suisse.
The Vatican stripped Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu of all his privileges, meaning Pope Francis effectively forced out the 72-year-old cleric. While the Vatican was mum on the reasons, Swiss portal «Kath.ch» cited cronyism as the reason.
Becciu was mired in controversy for years for his links to opaque London real estate dealings on behalf of the Vatican. The series of deals, which enlisted an Italian businessman with maintaining the properties, cost the Holy See a three-digit million sum.
Alms for Deals?
At least some of the funds landed at Credit Suisse, according to various media reports. The funds for the property deals came from funds allegedly embezzled from the church. A former Credit Suisse banker was tasked with managing the funds.
The investment is under financial investigation. A spokeswoman for Credit Suisse told «Kath.ch» that the Swiss bank isn't subject to the Vatican's investigation, and is otherwise cooperating with authorities as far as it can. Becciu denied wrong-doing, in an interview with Italian outlet «Domani» (in Italian).
https://www.finews.asia/finance/32824-vatican-cardinal-Becciu-credit-suisse
#10819924 at 2020-09-28 11:17:45 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #13848: James Woods Honors Memefag - Hightest Ranking Anon Edition
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/george-pell-to-fly-to-rome-as-a-friend-reveals-he-always-intended-to-return/ar-BB19uA3A
George Pell to fly to Rome as a friend reveals 'he always intended to return'
Cardinal George Pell is returning to Rome five months after a damning report was delivered by Australia's child sexual abuse royal commission finding he was aware of children being sexually abused within the Catholic Church but failed to adequately act to prevent or stop it.
The Catholic News Agency reported Pell on Tuesday would fly to Rome where he formerly held the role as prefect of the Vatican's Secretariat for the Economy, effectively making him the financial controller of the church. Pell has been living at the Archdiocese of Sydney since his acquittal by Australia's high court in April on historical charges of sexual abuse.
"He always intended to return to Rome," Katrina Lee, Pell's close friend who is an executive adviser to the archdiocese, told Reuters. She confirmed a report in the Herald Sun on Monday which also said Pell would fly to Rome on Tuesday. Lee said she did not know how long he was going for or the aim of the trip.
A source in Rome told the Guardian that Pell could be visiting an educational institution in the city.
There were rumours Pell was to fly to Rome in April soon after his release from jail, but at the time Lee told Guardian Australia: "I don't think anyone would choose to go to Italy for a holiday - or anything else - in the current Covid-19 crisis. Cardinal Pell is staying in Sydney."
Pell was not removed from his position managing the Vatican's finances after returning to Australia in 2017 to face child sexual abuse charges. But when his term expired on 24 February 2019 it was not renewed.
Pell had held the position since 2014 including when he was on trial. He stood aside from the role, however, while he faced the charges against him. He was acquitted of all charges in April 2020 and returned to Sydney after he was released from Barwon prison, located just outside of Melbourne, where he was incarcerated for 13 months.
Pell's return to Rome follows the resignation on Friday of Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu following accusations of embezzlement, allegations he denies. In a statement to the Catholic News Agency, Pell praised the Pope and welcomed Beccui's resignation, saying: "The Holy Father was elected to clean up Vatican finances. He plays a long game and is to be thanked and congratulated on recent developments."
"I hope the cleaning of the stables continues in both the Vatican and Victoria," Pell said.
Following his release from prison, Pell accused Victoria police of engaging in a witch-hunt against him during an interview with his friend, Andrew Bolt. According to a column written by Bolt for the Herald Sun on Monday: "Becciu last week vowed to prove his innocence, but now Pell returns, ostensibly to empty his Vatican apartment."
According to Australian Border Force Covid-19 travel restrictions, international travel exemptions are being provided to those "providing critical skills in religious or theology fields". Border force has been contacted for comment.
In May, more than 100 previously redacted pages of the findings from Australia's child abuse royal commission inquiry relating to Pell and what he knew about child sexual abuse within the Catholic church were tabled to parliament. The tabling of the findings was delayed until Pell's legal proceedings had ended so as not to prejudice the case.
The commission found Pell was aware of children being sexually abused within the Archdiocese of Ballarat by notorious paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale and other priests, and that it was "implausible" that other senior church figures did not tell Pell abuse was occurring.
- with Reuters
#10799906 at 2020-09-26 19:56:35 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #13822: You Smell Dat Panic??? Edition
Vatican announces surprise resignation of top cardinal
One of the most influential Vatican cardinals, Angelo Becciu from Italy, resigned his position unexpectedly on Thursday, the Holy See announced without explanation. "The Holy Father accepted the resignation from the office of Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints and from the rights connected to the Cardinalate, presented by His Eminence Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu," a one-line statement late on Thursday said. After a career as a Vatican emissary, Becciu has worked for the last six years as the Substitute for General Affairs, a role akin as chief of staff which means he sees Pope Francis daily and is one of his most trusted aides. The 72-year-old was named as a cardinal in summer 2018 and has also had responsibility for the department that oversees beatifications and sainthoods. His surprise resignation could be a sanction.
He has been linked in the past to an investigation underway within the Vatican over the last year into a property development in the exclusive Chelsea area of London which was paid for with offshore funds and companies. The process to invest in the scheme to build luxury apartments began in 2014 when Becciu was in the Vatican secretariat, the central bureaucracy of the Holy See. The Vatican's police force raided the offices of the secretariat last year to seize financial documents and computers, while five members of staff were suspended. Becciu defended the purchase at the beginning of the year during an interview.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/vatican-announces-surprise-resignation-of-top-cardinal/ar-BB19out2
#10781567 at 2020-09-25 11:38:36 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #13798: What A Beautiful Black Sky - The Storm Is Coming Now Edition
Vatican announces surprise resignation of top cardinal
AFP Vatican City, Holy See Sep 25, 2020, 02.05 PM(IST)
One of the most influential Vatican cardinals, Angelo Becciu from Italy, resigned his position unexpectedly on Thursday, the Holy See announced without explanation.
"The Holy Father accepted the resignation from the office of Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints and from the rights connected to the Cardinalate, presented by His Eminence Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu," a one-line statement late on Thursday said.
Also read | Vatican and China prepare to renew historic deal, angering US
After a career as a Vatican emissary, Becciu has worked for the last six years as the Substitute for General Affairs, a role akin as chief of staff which means he sees Pope Francis daily and is one of his most trusted aides.
The 72-year-old was named as a cardinal in summer 2018 and has also had responsibility for the department that oversees beatifications and sainthoods.
His surprise resignation could be a sanction.
He has been linked in the past to an investigation underway within the Vatican over the last year into a property development in the exclusive Chelsea area of London which was paid for with offshore funds and companies.
The process to invest in the scheme to build luxury apartments began in 2014 when Becciu was in the Vatican secretariat, the central bureaucracy of the Holy See.
The Vatican's police force raided the offices of the secretariat last year to seize financial documents and computers, while five members of staff were suspended.
Becciu defended the purchase at the beginning of the year during an interview.
More at Link:
https://www.wionews.com/world/vatican-announces-surprise-resignation-of-top-cardinal-330154
#10773185 at 2020-09-24 20:54:35 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #13787: Never Forget Those Behind The Scenes Edition
>>10773116
>https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2020-09-24/key-vatican-cardinal-caught-up-in-real-estate-scandal-resigns-suddenly
Key Vatican Cardinal Caught up in Real Estate Scandal Resigns Suddenly
By Reuters, Wire Service Content?Sept. 24, 2020, at 3:26 p.m.
A powerful Vatican cardinal caught up in a real estate scandal resigned suddenly on Thursday and gave up his right to take part in an eventual conclave to elect a pope, in one of the most mysterious episodes to hit the Holy See in years.
A brief statement, issued unusually in the evening, said that Pope Francis had accepted the resignation ofCardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, head of the department that decides who will be the saints of the Roman Catholic Church.
But perhaps more significantly, the statement said the Becciu, 72, had "given up the rights associated with being a cardinal".
The one-line statement gave no details but the most important right of Roman Catholic cardinals under 80, as is Becciu, is to take part in a conclave to elect a new pope after the current pope dies or resigns.
The relinquishing of that right indicated that the reason for Becciu's resignation was particularly serious.
8chan/8kun QRB Posts (1)
#107664 at 2021-11-10 16:19:02 (UTC+1)
QRB General #712: Bready Won't Bakey Edition
Vatican Loses $135M In Shady London Property Deal Amid Allegations Of Massive Fraud
BY TYLER DURDEN
WEDNESDAY, NOV 10, 2021 - 04:15 AM
Even God's top authority on Earth has trouble with the simplest investing precept: buy low and sell high.
After a scandal that has dragged on for more than a year and led to the firing of one of the Holy See's most senior officials over a handful of shady London property deals that were bleeding millions in losses, the Vatican has finally decided to rip the bandaid off and sell a luxury office building in London's Knightsbridge neighborhood for a loss of ?100MM ($135MM).
Per the FT, the Vatican is in the final stages of selling 60 Sloane Ave., a large building in the Knightsbridge district of London, for about ?200MM ($271MM) to private equity group Bain Capital. Bain Capital and Savills, which is managing the sale, both declined to comment. Senior Holy See officials - including Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, the second-in-command of the Vatican's powerful Secretariat of State - invested a total of ?350MM ($405MM) of money donated to the Catholic Church for charitable purposes in London properties including the Sloane Ave. building between 2014 and 2018.
Vatican investigators say the money was taken from Peter's Pence, an annual donation given by Catholics around the world which, according to the Vatican, is intended "for the many different needs of the universal church and for the relief of those most in need."
At one point, the Vatican had a plan to convert the London building into luxury flats. Instead, the building has ended up at the heart of a scandal that has forced the Vatican to overhaul completely the way it manages its finances.
Late last year, Pope Francis stripped the Vatican's powerful central administration office of an investment portfolio worth hundreds of millions of euros comprising donations from the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.
Several property agents who spoke to the FT expressed surprise at the losses generated by the deal.
"I couldn't quite understand how they [the Vatican] had lost money on it," said one agent with decades of experience in the London office market.
Whatever transpired during the deal, it appears to have reached "the Godfather III" levels of shadiness as Vatican prosecutors have charged a former Italian banker with crimes including embezzlement and fraud. The Vatican's prosecutors recently paused charges against the banker and a small group of alleged co-conspirators including a cardinal. The prosecution is now in a state of legal limbo.
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/vatican-loses-135m-shady-london-property-deal-amid-allegations-massive-fraud
8chan/8kun QResearch AUSTRALIA Posts (14)
#16343600 at 2022-05-26 08:34:27 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #23: HOUSE OF CARDS Edition
#22 - Part 17
Malka Leifer Extradition and Prosecution
>>16066003 Ultra-orthodox school principal and accused child abuser Malka Leifer set to go on trial in August, wants jury to decide abuse charges
>>16142942 Yaakov Litzman gets pacemaker after feeling ill over weekend - Former Israeli deputy health minister accused of using his position to block Malka Leifer's extradition to Australia
#22 - Part 18
Julian Assange Indictment and Extradition
>>16053223 WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange clocks up three years in UK prison
>>16111287 Change of government would present 'great opportunity' in fight to free Julian Assange, his father says - John Shipton, father of the WikiLeaks founder, says 'of course things would change' if Labor were elected in May
>>16111294 Video: UK judge to rule on Assange extradition - Sky News Australia
>>16121447 WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange closer to being extradited to the US, after UK court decision
>>16121492 Liberal MP Jason Falinsk calls for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's return to Australia
>>16121527 Australia won't interfere in Assange case - Finance Minister Simon Birmingham said the government maintained confidence in the UK's justice system
>>16142955 Wife of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange urges UK to block his extradition to US
#22 - Part 19
Cardinal George Pell and Vatican Financial Scandal Allegations
>>16040829 The kingdom and the NGO: Vatican financial trial exposes internal rivalries - Monsignor Mauro Carlino admits to spying on higher-ups at the Vatican bank
>>16162882 Cardinal Pell: The Pope will certainly speak out at risk of schism in Germany
>>16175907 Cardinal Pell praises Pope Francis' curial reform after financial scandals - 'We cannot afford to lose another 500 million though incompetence or corruption in the next 40 years,' said Cardinal George Pell
>>16220343 Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu has denied accusations of having used $A2.3 million to influence a trial against Australian Cardinal George Pell.
>>16228030 Cardinal Pell Highlights 'Somewhat Incomplete' Account Given by Cardinal Becciu at Vatican Finance Trial
>>16303115 Cardinal Becciu: Pope ordered auditor to resign over spying charge
>>16320878 Cardinal Angelo Becciu implicates Pope Francis in financial corruption megatrial
>>16325822 Vatican airs dirty laundry in trial over London property - Testimony so far has provided plenty of insights into how the Vatican operates, with a cast of characters worthy of a Dan Brown thriller or a Shakespearean tragicomedy
#16343533 at 2022-05-26 08:08:37 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #22: THIS IS NOT ANOTHER 3-YEAR ELECTION Edition
#22 - Part 17
Malka Leifer Extradition and Prosecution
>>16066003 Ultra-orthodox school principal and accused child abuser Malka Leifer set to go on trial in August, wants jury to decide abuse charges
>>16142942 Yaakov Litzman gets pacemaker after feeling ill over weekend - Former Israeli deputy health minister accused of using his position to block Malka Leifer's extradition to Australia
#22 - Part 18
Julian Assange Indictment and Extradition
>>16053223 WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange clocks up three years in UK prison
>>16111287 Change of government would present 'great opportunity' in fight to free Julian Assange, his father says - John Shipton, father of the WikiLeaks founder, says 'of course things would change' if Labor were elected in May
>>16111294 Video: UK judge to rule on Assange extradition - Sky News Australia
>>16121447 WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange closer to being extradited to the US, after UK court decision
>>16121492 Liberal MP Jason Falinsk calls for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's return to Australia
>>16121527 Australia won't interfere in Assange case - Finance Minister Simon Birmingham said the government maintained confidence in the UK's justice system
>>16142955 Wife of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange urges UK to block his extradition to US
#22 - Part 19
Cardinal George Pell and Vatican Financial Scandal Allegations
>>16040829 The kingdom and the NGO: Vatican financial trial exposes internal rivalries - Monsignor Mauro Carlino admits to spying on higher-ups at the Vatican bank
>>16162882 Cardinal Pell: The Pope will certainly speak out at risk of schism in Germany
>>16175907 Cardinal Pell praises Pope Francis' curial reform after financial scandals - 'We cannot afford to lose another 500 million though incompetence or corruption in the next 40 years,' said Cardinal George Pell
>>16220343 Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu has denied accusations of having used $A2.3 million to influence a trial against Australian Cardinal George Pell.
>>16228030 Cardinal Pell Highlights 'Somewhat Incomplete' Account Given by Cardinal Becciu at Vatican Finance Trial
>>16303115 Cardinal Becciu: Pope ordered auditor to resign over spying charge
>>16320878 Cardinal Angelo Becciu implicates Pope Francis in financial corruption megatrial
>>16325822 Vatican airs dirty laundry in trial over London property - Testimony so far has provided plenty of insights into how the Vatican operates, with a cast of characters worthy of a Dan Brown thriller or a Shakespearean tragicomedy
#16220343 at 2022-05-06 11:08:36 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #22: THIS IS NOT ANOTHER 3-YEAR ELECTION Edition
>>16040829
Becciu denies bid to influence Pell trial
Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu has denied accusations of having used $A2.3 million to influence a trial against Australian Cardinal George Pell.
Digital Staff - 6 May 2022
Pope Francis authorised spending up to one million euros ($A1.5 million) to free a Colombian nun kidnapped by militants in Mali, a cardinal has testified, revealing previously secret papal approval to hire a UK security firm to find the nun and secure her freedom.
Cardinal Angelo Becciu also responded to claims against him concerning Cardinal George Pell, who left his job as the Vatican's financial czar in 2017 to face historical sex abuse charges in his native Australia, for which he was ultimately acquitted.
Pell clashed repeatedly with Becciu during his time at the Vatican and has repeated Italian media claims that Becciu approved money transfers from the Vatican to Australia that in some way aided in the sex abuse prosecution against him.
Becciu denied accusations of having used $A2.3 million to influence the proceedings.
Becciu on Thursday produced two letters to reject the claims: one from the current secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, explaining that the 1.46 million euros that was wired to Australia was to pay for a domain name ".catholic".
And the other, a September 11, 2015 letter authorising that expenditure, signed by none other than Pell.
Becciu is one of 10 people accused in the Vatican's sprawling financial fraud trial, which originated in the Holy See's 350 million euro investment in a London property and expanded to cover other alleged crimes.
Prosecutors have accused the defendants of a host of crimes for allegedly fleecing the Holy See of millions of euros in fees, commissions and bad investments.
Becciu, the lone cardinal on trial, is accused of embezzlement, abuse of office and witness tampering, all of which he denies.
On Thursday, his testimony covered the charges concerning his relationship with an Italian self-styled intelligence specialist, Cecilia Marogna.
Marogna has told Italian media that she helped negotiate the release of Catholic hostages in Africa on behalf of the Holy See.
Vatican prosecutors accuse her of embezzling 575 million euros, citing bank records from her Slovenian holding company that show nine wire transfers from the Vatican in 2018-2019 for unspecified humanitarian ends, and expenditures out of the account at Prada, Luis Vuitton and fancy hotels.
Marogna has said the transfers were reimbursements for expenditures and compensation for her services.
Becciu testified on Thursday that he hired Marogna as an external security consultant, impressed by her grasp of geopolitical affairs and the trust she enjoyed of two of Italy's top secret service officials, Generals Luciano Carta and Gianni Caravelli, who accompanied her to a meeting with Becciu in the Vatican in October 2017.
Becciu said he turned to Marogna for help following the February 2017 kidnapping of a Colombian nun, Sister Gloria Cecilia Narvaez, in Mali.
She had been kidnapped by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, which has bankrolled its insurgency by kidnapping foreigners.
During her captivity, the group periodically showed Narvaez on video asking for the Vatican's help.
Becciu said he had heard from the Vatican's nuncio in Colombia as well as other sisters from the nun's religious order asking for help.
He said he brought the matter to Francis as well as Marogna, who he said advised him that she could work with a British intelligence firm, The Inkerman Group, to secure the nun's release.
Becciu testified that Francis authorised him to proceed with the Inkerman operation and forbade him from telling anyone else about it, including the Vatican's own police chief.
Francis was concerned about the security and reputational implications if the news leaked, Becciu said.
Becciu said he provided Francis a preliminary oral readout of the London meeting on January 15, 2018 while the Pope was en route to Peru.
"He listened to me and confirmed my intention to proceed," Becciu testified.
"In a subsequent meeting with the Holy Father, once in Rome, I spoke to him in more detail about the conversation we had with the Inkermans and the sum that we should have estimated in broad terms: about one million euros, part to pay for the creation of a network of contacts, and part for the effective liberation of the nun."
"I pointed out that we shouldn't have gone beyond that figure. He approved. I must say that every step of this operation was agreed with the Holy Father," Becciu testified.
Narvaez was released in October 2021 after more than four years in captivity.
https://7news.com.au/news/crime/Becciu-denies-bid-to-influence-pell-trial-c-6697192
#11810034 at 2020-11-27 20:55:04 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #11 - THE SILENT WAR CONTINUES Edition
George Pell 'vulnerable, spied on' in Vatican cash battle
Opponents of Pope Francis' push to clean up Vatican finances applied unprecedented psychological pressure and created a climate of fear in their attempt to stop George Pell and his allies investigating Swiss bank accounts which allegedly held more than $300m, according to a book chronicling events preceding the Australian cardinal's downfall.
Senior officials working for the Vatican's financial oversight body set up to examine misconduct concluded one break-in at the organisation's headquarters was meant as a warning, after little was stolen except documents relating to a murdered banker.
Anxiety levels were so high that officials involved in the financial reform process felt "vulnerable, observed, spied on", Italian journalist Gian Luigi Nuzzi - who has covered decades of financial intrigue in Rome - writes in The Vatican's Black Book.
"The theory that this was an intimidatory act was also accepted at the most senior levels when the news was relayed to the Pope and to Pell who had only been in his new post a couple of weeks," Nuzzi writes in his book about the months after Cardinal Pell took over the role of reforming the Vatican's finances in 2014.
The internal workings of the Vatican have come under close scrutiny in recent months after Italian newspapers and The Times of London reported on the lavish lifestyles by high-ranking officials including Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, a well-known rival of Cardinal Pell.
Cardinal Becciu, who was sacked earlier this year, has strongly denied those reports.
Cardinal Pell was charged with multiple sexual offences in June 2017 and convicted of five charges by a Melbourne jury the following year. But the High Court overturned those convictions in April, and Cardinal Pell has since returned to Rome.
Cardinal Pell's private secretary, Mark Withoos, Nuzzi writes, was warned his boss might be being tailed, forcing him to report the matter to security. Cardinal Pell told Father Withoos, who is Australian, that people needed to have "nerves of steel" and that it might be part of a psychological war to unsettle efforts to deal with Vatican finances.
The book also details an incident soon after Cardinal Pell became the head of Vatican finances in which documents relating to the 1982 murder of the Vatican banker Roberto Calvi were stolen from the head office of the organisation heading the reforms.
Nuzzi claims that after the break-in, Vatican security had found part of the dossier of papers stolen from the archive in the pigeonholes used for the Vatican Prefecture, most relating to missives between key figures in the 1970 Vatican Bank scandal that resulted in the death of Calvi, who was found hanged from London's Blackfriars Bridge in 1982.
Nuzzi writes the break-in and theft was seen by the Vatican as a mafia-style message not to look into the finances or intervene in the existing arrangements. The 835-page book also says that in 2016 Cardinal Pell had detailed how he believed that up to $11bn belonging to the Vatican could be held in foreign banks; he came to this view after meeting Australian bankers in London.
It describes Pope Francis' decision to promote Cardinal Pell as flawed, particularly as he had knowledge of the allegations against the Australian at the time.
According to Nuzzi, Cardinal Pell flew to London in October 2016 and on his return met with Danny Casey, the former business manager of the Sydney archdiocese and a prominent Australian Catholic. "I've been in (London's financial district) and I met with some friends, Australian bankers," Cardinal Pell was reported as saying at the time.
"They confirmed to me that there are important funds belonging to the Vatican which are still hidden in Switzerland."
Allegations of sexual abuse levelled at Cardinal Pell have long been linked by supporters with conspiracy theories that the prosecutions were related to the battles he fought in Rome against forces resistant to reform. No evidence has been forthcoming to substantiate those claims.
The Australian reported in October that anti-corruption authorities were looking into money wired from the Vatican to Australia - Italian newspapers La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera said Vatican investigators suspected the money was used to derail Cardinal Pell's trial.
The Vatican investigation is also looking into the purchase of a $363m London property, while a 39-year-old woman working for Cardinal Becciu was arrested earlier this year over allegations of unauthorised payments.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/george-pell-vulnerable-spied-on-in-vatican-cash-battle/news-story/2df5981f703500d2a545e8e4da41d15b
#11587937 at 2020-11-11 06:58:35 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #11 - THE SILENT WAR CONTINUES Edition
>>11511257
George Pell trial interference claims dismissed by Victorian corruption watchdog IBAC
Victoria's anti-corruption watchdog will not investigate suggestions more than $1 million was wired from the Vatican to Australia in relation to Cardinal George Pell's trial.
Last month, several Italian newspapers reported unsubstantiated claims that Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu was suspected of wiring $1.14 million to Australia in 2018 to help secure evidence against Cardinal Pell in his sexual abuse trial.
Later, federal financial crimes regulator AUSTRAC confirmed it had provided information to both the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Victoria Police.
The AFP said it referred some of the financial intelligence onto Victoria's Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC).
But in a statement today, IBAC said there was not enough substance to warrant an investigation.
"IBAC confirms it received information based on media reports which alleged Vatican funds were transferred to individuals in support of the recent case against George Pell," the commission said.
"IBAC has reviewed the information and found the threshold to commence inquiries or an investigation was not met.
"This matter would only be further considered if any additional, credible information is received relevant to IBAC's jurisdiction.
"The provision of a media report to IBAC without further substance is unlikely, in most cases, to be sufficient to initiate an investigation."
Cardinal Becciu says he never interfered with trial
Cardinal Becciu denied the allegations against him, and said he was "compelled to reiterate vigorously that he has never interfered with [Cardinal Pell's trial] in any way whatsoever".
"Furthermore, given the apparent will of some news organisations to falsely depict an alleged, albeit non-existent, activity to taint the evidence of Cardinal Pell's trial, Cardinal Becciu will promptly resort to the Judicial Authorities to protect and defend his honour, so gravely damaged," Cardinal Becciu's lawyer Fabio Viglione said in an October 17 statement provided to the ABC.
Last month Victoria Police said in the absence of sufficient evidence, it was not investigating the matter further.
"[AUSTRAC] have not advised Victoria Police of any suspicious activity related to these transactions," Victoria Police said in a statement on October 24.
"In the absence of any other evidence or intelligence Victoria Police has noted the advice from AUSTRAC.
"We are not at this time conducting any further investigation."
The High Court quashed Cardinal Pell's child sexual abuse convictions on appeal earlier this year.
Cardinal Pell was freed from prison in April.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-11-11/ibac-dismisses-allegations-of-vatican-interference-in-pell-trial/12872176
—
IBAC: Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission
Media releases
IBAC dismisses allegation of Vatican Funds in Pell case
11 November 2020
IBAC confirms it received information based on media reports which alleged Vatican funds were transferred to individuals in support of the recent case against George Pell.
IBAC has reviewed the information and found the threshold to commence inquiries or an investigation was not met. This matter would only be further considered if any additional, credible information is received relevant to IBAC's jurisdiction.
The provision of a media report to IBAC without further substance is unlikely, in most cases, to be sufficient to initiate an investigation.
Information about what IBAC investigates is provided on our website. The full list of reasons why IBAC may not take action on a complaint can be found under section 67 of the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission Act 2011.
https://www.ibac.vic.gov.au/media-releases/article/ibac-dismisses-allegation-of-vatican-funds-in-pell-case
#11493555 at 2020-11-06 05:32:14 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #11 - THE SILENT WAR CONTINUES Edition
>>11479859
>>11479906
The Pope has cleaned up Vatican cash on Cardinal George Pell's orders
Advice from Cardinal George Pell has led The Pope to strip funds from a top-secret bank inside the Vatican that hid millions in Swiss accounts.
The Pope has stripped funds from a secretive bank inside the Vatican, as he follows through on financial transparency recommendations made by Australian Cardinal George Pell.
The Secretariat of State, which operated its own finance arm inside the Holy See, has now had its cash moved into one central bank in the Vatican.
Pope Francis chaired a high powered meeting in Rome on Wednesday night local time, where the money was signed over.
The meeting followed through on an official letter that the Pope sent on August 25 demanding the clean up.
A Vatican statement said that the meeting dealt with "the transfer of the administrative management of the funds of the Secretariat of State to the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See and their control to the Secretariat for the Economy."
"At the same meeting, the Pope constituted the "Commission for transfer and control", which will come into operation with immediate effect, in order to complete the provisions of the letter to the Secretary of State over the next three months," the statement said.
The move comes after Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu resigned following claims about questionable financial deals, including a $363 million investment in a commercial property deal in London that went sour.
The money for the London deal came from the Secretariat of State, where Cardinal Becciu was a key figure until his shock departure in September.
Cardinal Pell had moved to Rome in 2014 and had raised concerns about the money in the Secretariat of State's control, suggesting that it be moved into one central fund for transparency and oversight.
The Vatican's former chief auditor, Libero Milone, blew the whistle on the Secretariat's finances, after he found hundreds of millions of dollars hidden in Swiss bank accounts.
Mr Milone was accused of "spying" in 2017, but the Vatican withdraw all charges the following year.
"Some people got worried that I was about to uncover something I shouldn't see," he told London's Financial Times in 2019.
Cardinal Pell has returned to Rome to clean out his apartment, but it was expected he would stay for several months after he won a High Court appeal to quash a conviction on child sex abuse charges that he had denied.
He spent more than 400 days in prison before he was acquitted.
Cardinal Becciu has denied any wrongdoing in regards to finances at the Vatican.
He has also denied reports in Italian media that he authorised more than $1.1 million in payments to Australia that were linked to Cardinal Pell's case.
One of Cardinal Pell's complainants has denied he received any payments.
Austrac, the Australian government authority responsible for investigating money laundering, has probed the payments and passed information on to Victoria Police and the Australian Federal Police.
Victoria Police said last month that it would not investigate the payments.
https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/world/the-pope-has-cleaned-up-vatican-cash-on-cardinal-george-pells-orders/news-story/933cad90527fb22b3aeecb0b78759556
#11206132 at 2020-10-22 06:23:04 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #10 - INFORMATION WARFARE Edition
George Pell: Victorian corruption body chasing Vatican's mysterious $2m cash transfers to Australia
Anti-corruption authorities in Victoria will look into money wired from the Vatican to Australia and allegedly connected to Cardinal George Pell's trial after receiving information about the matter from federal police.
Separately, The Australian can reveal that Vatican prosecutors investigating unauthorised financial transfers have been given details of more than $2m wired to Australia between February 2017 and June 2018 - almost double the $1.1m reported by Italian newspapers and the Times of London.
There were four transactions in that period, the first for more than ?250,000 from the Vatican's secretariat of state in February 2017, according to documents being considered by Vatican investigators.
The second came from the secretariat in May 2017, while the third and fourth totalled more than ?800,000 and were sent in December 2017 and June 2018.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Australian Federal Police said it had "received information from Austrac on this matter" and was "undertaking a review of the relevant information". "The AFP has concurrently referred aspects of this matter to the Victorian Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission," the AFP statement reads.
Austrac, Australia's financial intelligence agency that investigated money laundering and organised crime, confirmed earlier this week that it had passed information to the AFP and to Victoria Police for further investigation.
At the heart of the Vatican's investigation is Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, who was dismissed from his high-ranking position running the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in September after being linked to the fraud probe.
Cardinal Becciu, who has denied all wrongdoing, was the deputy secretary of state until 2018 and had a well-known rivalry with Cardinal Pell when the latter was appointed as the head of Vatican finances.
Italian newspapers La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera have reported that Vatican investigators were told that money was sent to Australia to help the case against Cardinal Pell, a claim yet to be substantiated.
In an earlier statement, Cardinal Becciu said: "I categorically deny interfering in any way in the trial of Cardinal Pell."
Cardinal Pell was charged in June 2017 with a series of sexual assault offences.
He was acquitted of the charges by the High Court in April this year.
The transfer details given to the investigators and obtained by The Australian include references to Cardinal Becciu.
They also include references to Neustart Australia Pty Ltd, a company that is linked to an American technology firm.
The Vatican investigation is also looking into the purchase of a $363m London property, while a 39-year-old woman working for Cardinal Becciu was arrested last week over allegations of unauthorised payments in Slovenia.
Apart from Cardinal Becciu's sacking and the arrest in Milan, five senior Vatican police, auditors and financiers have been fired or suspended and a money broker has been arrested and charged with "embezzlement, money laundering and extortion" in relation to the London property.
Robert Richter QC, the barrister who led Cardinal Pell's defence, has previously called for Australian authorities to investigate allegations that money transferred from the Vatican was being used to influence the case against his client.
The Pope appointed Cardinal Pell to oversee Vatican finances in 2014. The former archbishop of Sydney launched an audit of those finances, led by an external accounting company but was overruled by Cardinal Becciu.
Cardinal Pell, in 2014, wrote in Britain's Catholic Herald Magazine that he had discovered "some hundreds of millions of euros were tucked away ... and did not appear on the balance sheet", suggesting some departments had long had "an almost free hand".
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/corruption-body-chasing-vaticans-mysterious-pell-2m/news-story/4994c9a075a83271e8fac8edd39fa320
#11172489 at 2020-10-20 17:52:02 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #10 - INFORMATION WARFARE Edition
Police given 'information' about claims of Vatican wire transfer during Pell trial
London: Australia's financial crimes watchdog has handed information to police over claims more than a million dollars was transferred from the Vatican to Australia to help influence the trial of Cardinal George Pell.
The development, revealed late on Tuesday night, risks inflaming tensions inside the Holy See, where Pell has returned after his conviction for child-sex abuse was overturned by the High Court in April.
An apparent turf war between forces loyal to Pell and his rival, Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, has caused a major split between the most senior figures surrounding Pope Francis.
Italian newspapers La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera earlier this month claimed Becciu was suspected of arranging for ?700,000 ($1.1 million) to be wired to people in Australia to help seal his initial conviction.
The papers did not provide any evidence to support the claims, which have been circulating privately among Pell's supporters for several years.
Becciu's lawyer has said his client strongly denies any interference with Pell's trial. The allegations have also been denied by people who gave evidence against Pell during legal proceedings in Melbourne.
AUSTRAC chief executive Nicole Rose on Tuesday night revealed the anti-money laundering regulator had examined the media reports and had provided information to the Australian Federal Police and Victoria Police.
"Yes I can confirm AUSTRAC has looked into the matter and we've provided information to the AFP and to Victoria Police," she told a Senate estimates committee at Parliament House in Canberra.
She did not say what the nature of the information was, or why it was passed on to police at the state and federal level.
Liberal senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells had asked Rose about the allegations.
She also asked Department of Home Affairs secretary Mike Pezzulo whether the agency had examined the reports. Pezzulo said he did not believe it had.
Comment has been sought from the AFP and Victoria Police.
Pope Francis recently forced Becciu to relinquish his role as a cardinal and the head of the office responsible for appointing saints following allegations the 72-year-old misused church funds to invest in a luxury London property development.
Becciu denied any wrongdoing immediately after the September 24 firing.
"Up until yesterday … I felt I was a friend of the Pope, the faithful executor of the Pope," he said at the time.
"Then the Pope told me that he no longer had faith in me because he got a report from magistrates that I committed an act of misappropriation."
Becciu was considered an opponent of Pell's plans to reform the Vatican's finances when he served as the Holy See's treasurer before returning to Australia to face child sex charges.
Asked about Becciu's sacking, Pell responded: "I hope the cleaning of the stables continues in both the Vatican and Victoria."
Viv Waller, a lawyer who represented the man who in 2018 accused Pell of sexually assaulting him in the 1990s, rejected any suggestion her client was connected to the allegations.
"My client denies any knowledge or receipt of any payments," she said.
"He won't be commenting further in response to these allegations."
Italian media reports also suggested - without evidence - that the second former choirboy Pell was charged with sexually assaulting received money to accuse the Cardinal. However this boy never accused Pell of sexual assault, did not provide a statement to police and died three years before Pell was charged.
That boy's father, who testified against Pell at the committal proceeding, said the family had "certainly not received any money to give evidence against George Pell and any suggestion that the surviving complainant has is just ludicrous".
Pell, 79, was jailed in early 2019 but was released from prison and had his convictions quashed in April this year after a successful appeal to the High Court.
Pell's barrister, Robert Richter QC, has previously called for an investigation into reports about transfers from the Vatican.
"I am treating these reports as requiring a proper investigation by all fiscal authorities to track the money coming to Australia," he said earlier this month.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/police-given-information-about-vatican-wire-transfer-claims-during-pell-trial-20201021-p566zf.html
#11148313 at 2020-10-19 07:00:15 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #10 - INFORMATION WARFARE Edition
Becciu 'vigorously' denies interference in Cardinal Pell trial
Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu again denied having interfered in any way with the trial of Cardinal George Pell, after Italian media reported an allegation that Becciu might have wired money to Australia as a bribe during Pell's trial.
An Oct. 17 statement from Becciu's lawyer, Fabio Viglione, said the cardinal, "regarding the everlasting attention of some journalists to Cardinal Pell's trial, is compelled to reiterate vigorously that he has never interfered with it in any way whatsoever."
The lawyer also said "to protect and defend his honor, so gravely damaged," Becciu may seek legal recourse against some news organizations for their continued reporting of "an alleged, albeit non existent activity to taint the evidence of Cardinal Pell's trial."
Becciu's latest denial comes after speculative reports in Italian newspapers earlier this month indicated he had been accused of wiring money from an undisclosed Vatican account to Australia while Pell was facing a 2018 criminal trial, on charges that he sexually abused two boys while he was Archbishop of Melbourne in the 1990s.
Pell was convicted of that charge, after a first trial ended in a hung jury, and in 2019 sentenced to prison. He was freed on April 7, 2020, after Australia's High Court concluded the jury in Pell's trial did not act rationally when it found no possibility of doubt in the charges the cardinal faced.
Reports that Becciu may have transferred money to Australia to set up Pell have attracted international attention.
The allegation, which CNA has not independently corroborated, is reportedly tied to Msgr. Alberto Perlasca, a former Becciu deputy who is said to be cooperating with investigators. But while the supposed allegations have made headlines in Italy, Australia, the U.K, and the U.S., they have not been independently confirmed and remain attributed only to anonymous sources.
Until 2017, Pell led an effort called for by Pope Francis to bring order and accountability to the Vatican's finances, which have long lacked centralized procedures, controls, or oversight. Pell clashed in that role with Becciu, who as sostituto of the Vatican's Secretariat of State served effectively as the pope's chief of staff. Becciu at one point acted to cancel a contract Pell had made for an external audit of Vatican finances.
Since at least 2018, criminal investigators have been reviewing a web of investments and transactions at the Secretariat of State that are connected to Becciu; last month the cardinal was fired from his position at the Vatican and resigned "the rights proper to cardinals," while formally remaining a member of the College of Cardinals.
It is believed Becciu may soon face criminal charges for his role in several Vatican investment and financial schemes of questionable integrity and legality that amount to hundreds of millions of euros.
A woman at the center of the most recent Vatican financial scandal, who is alleged to be closely connected with Becciu, is currently being held in an Italian jail pending extradition to the Vatican.
Cecilia Marogna, a self-described geopolitical analyst, was arrested Oct. 13 by Italian financial authorities after a warrant was issued by Vatican prosecutors through Interpol.
Marogna has said she worked for the Holy See's Secretariat of State as a security consultant and strategist. Vatican authorities reportedly issued the warrant on charges of aggravated embezzlement. She has acknowledged receiving hundreds of thousands of euros from the Vatican via her company registered in Slovenia, and confirmed use of the funds for the purchase of luxury items, including designer label handbags.
She has stated that the money all went to her Vatican consultancy work and her salary; expensive gifts, such as trips or purses, she said, "were used to create cooperative relationships."
Although a Milan court of appeal has upheld the execution of the warrant, lawyers for Marogna have appealed her extradition to Vatican City, a process that is expected to take as long as a month to complete. Pending the outcome of the appeal, Marogna is being held in a local jail after the Milan court deemed her a flight risk.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/vatican-finances-cardinal-Angelo-Becciu-vigorously-denies-interference-in-cardinal-george-pell-trial-42514
#11006594 at 2020-10-10 01:25:04 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #10 - INFORMATION WARFARE Edition
>>11006573
2/3
Claims of a dark conspiracy against Pell involving crooked Vatican officials, the mob and corrupt actors in Australia have been circulating for at least four years.
Sources familiar with the matter this week said that Pell's legal team considered the possibility of a Vatican plot before he was formally interviewed by Victoria Police in Rome in October 2016.
His legal team considered the claims and decided that, in the absence of any evidence to support them, they could not be put to jury.
Bishop Elliott, a friend of Pell's, spoke of it publicly in October 2017 at a Sydney Institute event to mark the 500th anniversary of the reformation. Pell had just been charged by police and shortly after the event, Bishop Elliott surprised those still in room by suggesting the mafia had cooked up his legal troubles.
Pell has been more careful. After the High Court quashed his conviction and freed him from jail earlier this year, he said in a Sky News interview that he believed his only accuser who testified at trial, a former choirboy known as J, might have been used.
Did he believe corrupt Vatican officials were behind it? "Most of the senior people in Rome who are in any way sympathetic to financial reform believe that they are,'' he said. "I don't have any evidence of that.''
Evidence remains elusive. However, over the past two weeks, a sequence of events have sent into overdrive Vatican intrigue surrounding the trials of George Pell.
The first was an announcement by Pope Francis on September 24 that Giovanni Angelo Becciu, a powerful Vatican figure who vehemently opposed Pell's financial reforms, had effectively resigned as a cardinal. Becciu is at the centre of ongoing Vatican investigations into a series of suspect property deals.
On the day the Becciu news broke, Pell was packing his bags in Sydney to prepare to return to Rome for the first time since he stood trial in the Victorian County Court. It appears coincidental that Pell arrived in Rome just as Becciu was exiting the Vatican but Pell revelled in the timing. "I hope the cleaning of the stables continues in both the Vatican and Victoria," he said.
Pell's return to Rome was greeted by a series of local newspaper reports, the first of which was written by L'Espresso journalist Massimiliano Coccia.
It revealed that Becciu's assistant Monsignor Alberto Perlasca had turned whistleblower and was assisting Vatican investigators. According to the report, Perlasca told the investigators Becciu arranged a series of financial transfers to Australia to "finance the testimonies against his great rival George Pell''.
The report goes on to suggest the second former choirboy Pell was charged with sexually assaulting received money to accuse the Cardinal. This claim, which the Italian journalist sourced to unnamed "Ballarat residents", does not withstand scrutiny.
The second choirboy, a friend of J, never accused George Pell of sexual assault, did not provide a statement to police and died three years before Pell was charged. J testified that it was his friend's death, which followed years of drug addiction and mental health problems, which prompted him to take his allegations against Pell to police.
The second choirboy's father, who testified against George Pell at the Cardinal's committal proceedings and is currently preparing a lawsuit against the church, said he was "beyond offended" by any suggestion he benefited financially from Pell's prosecution.
"My wife and I are driving around in a car that is 21 years old, we are renting a National Affordability Scheme home and living on a pension. This is absolute stupidity and these allegations should never have seen the light of day," he said.
"I have certainly not received any money to give evidence against George Pell and any suggestion that the surviving complainant has is just ludicrous. Given what the surviving complainant has been through I can only imagine how distressing it has been for him to hear these baseless allegations.''
J has denied through his lawyer any knowledge or receipt of payments to testify against the Cardinal. At every stage of the judicial process, including the High Court appeal, J was found to be a credible, compelling witness.
Becciu has denied interfering in Pell's trial. The barrister who defended Pell, Robert Richter, QC, says the money transfer should be investigated.
(continued)
#10960480 at 2020-10-07 06:59:18 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #10 - INFORMATION WARFARE Edition
George Pell office denies Vatican funding
George Pell's office has denied he received any money from the Vatican to fund his legal defence against child sexual abuse allegations.
Responding to claims of a mysterious transfer of more than $1.1m in church money to Australia, a spokesman for Cardinal Pell on Tuesday was emphatic in denying the Vatican or any other part of the church in Australia or elsewhere had bankrolled his legal fees over charges that saw him jailed before being freed on appeal in April.
The spokesman said money was donated by supporters of the cardinal, many of whom had not met him and some of whom were not Catholic.
An appeal, independent of the church, was organised and widely publicised in Catholic magazines.
Three major Italian newspapers have reported that the seven-figure sum was wired to Australia to corrupt the sex-abuse case Cardinal Pell was facing in 2017.
Lawyer Viv Waller, who represented the complainant in the case, said her client had not received any of the money.
Amid speculation about the alleged money transfer, The Australian can reveal that the Vatican's ambassador to Australia, Archbishop Adolfo Tito Yllana, met the Pope in a private audience in Rome on Monday.
The meeting came amid suggestions a reported transfer of ?700,000 of Vatican funds were sent to an account at the Holy See's Canberra embassy.
Such a meeting, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, suggests Francis is sufficiently concerned about the reports to seek further information.
Three leading Italian newspapers have reported that disgraced Vatican Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, a staunch opponent of Cardinal Pell's financial reforms, was suspected of paying that amount to an unnamed account in Australia to unfavourably influence the case against Cardinal Pell.
The case was ultimately dismissed 7-nil by the High Court, after Cardinal Pell spent 13 months in jail, mostly in solitary confinement.
Cardinal Becciu, who resigned from the college of cardinal last week, denies the allegation made by his former associate, Monsignor Alberto Perlasca, in the Italian daily newspaper Il Messaggero.
It is believed to be the newspaper read by the Pope.
On Saturday, Edward Pentin, Vatican-based correspondent for the US National Catholic Register, reported that a Vatican source with detailed knowledge of the matter confirmed details of a bank transfer to Australia as reported by Corriere della Sera.
There is no suggestion Archbishop Yllana, a Filipino appointed ambassador to Australia in 2015 by Francis, has been involved in any wrongdoing.
The embassy told The Australian yesterday that Archbishop Yllana was "away on a mission'' and nobody else was available to answer questions.
Several questions have been emailed to the archbishop.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/george-pell-office-denies-vatican-funding/news-story/d99e8a9aa4df510bd0a98ddd8d359f81
#10941326 at 2020-10-06 03:17:47 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #10 - INFORMATION WARFARE Edition
>>10941290
2/2
For political advantage, Democrats have tried to keep Americans scared, depressed and under house arrest, while blaming the president for every COVID death. Sensible Americans reject this perverse framing of the pandemic.
Maybe the basement option works for those in the media and protected classes who have jobs that allow them to sit at home and conduct business via Zoom.
But in order for them to eat and have their groceries delivered, somebody had to get out in the real world and risk the virus.
Those scolding the president and his supporters, tut-tutting about masks and social distancing, are sacrificing the welfare of children and young people who are least at risk.
For some, being cooped up inside is a death sentence worse than the virus.
We will see how the president, 74 and overweight, pulls through. But the signs are good, say his doctors, and he could be released from the hospital in the next couple of days.
Trump adapted to the virus. His rallies became open-air events at airports around the country, with the theatrical backdrop of Air Force One gleaming splendidly under klieg lights.
At his last rally, Saturday night at the Harrisburg airport in Pennsylvania, he stood out in the rain, valiantly performing in his wet suit for two hours.
The cheers were even more ecstatic than I remembered at his old indoor rallies, with a new chant of, "We love you."
"I love the man because he cares about this country and he fights for us," said attendee Teresa Tavoletti, a self-described "50-something suburban woman" who had driven from New Jersey.
"I don't care how he speaks. I don't care what he says. I care about his actions and his actions have proven it to me. He's got a record now to prove that he cares."
I heard the same from people across the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania. I saw it in Weirton, West Virginia, last weekend, at a gathering of 300 Trump supporters in a "Trump train," a parade of vehicles and trucks waving Trump flags.
"He supports my livelihood, which is oil and natural gas," said Jason Laster, 44, of Wellsburg, West Virginia. "He supports the right to bear arms. I just feel like he's done great things for the country already. And, four more years, if we can get Pelosi to quit trying to impeach him, then I feel like he's going to do a bunch more great things."
You see the enthusiasm for the president outside Walter Reed, where stalwarts have gathered to wave flags outside his window and cars honk their horns in appreciation.
You see it in new voter registrations, from Florida to Pennsylvania and West Virginia, where Republicans are outstripping Democrats by as much as two to one.
If the president bounces back onto the campaign trail, he will be an invincible hero, who not only survived every dirty trick the Democrats threw at him, but the Chinese virus as well. He will show America we no longer have to be afraid.
Unholy mess at Vatican
Those who know Cardinal George Pell, the pope's honest former finance minister, always suspected he had been set up when he was jailed on historic child sex abuse charges in his native Australia, and then acquitted on appeal.
Now bombshell reports in the Italian media allege that Pell's fiercest foe at the Vatican, the recently fired Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, wired 700,000 euros (about $822,000) from Vatican accounts to "recipients in Australia who helped ensure hostile testimony" during Pell's trial in that country's state of Victoria.
Before Pell flew back to Rome last week, he issued a statement from Sydney, one day after Becciu's firing, hinting that the Vatican was involved in his malicious prosecution.
"The Holy Father was elected to clean up Vatican finances. He plays a long game and is to be thanked and congratulated on recent developments," Pell's statement said.
"I hope the cleaning of the stables continues in both the Vatican and Victoria."
Stay tuned.
https://nypost.com/2020/10/04/coronavirus-battle-shows-the-bravery-of-president-trump-devine/
>Cardinal George Pell, the pope's honest former finance minister
#10939447 at 2020-10-06 00:47:34 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #10 - INFORMATION WARFARE Edition
Lawyer denies Pell's accuser ever received money for evidence
The lawyer for the man who gave evidence against George Pell at trial has denied her client ever received money, amid reports in the Italian media that Vatican funds were sent to people in Australia to help secure the sex assault conviction against the cardinal.
Italian newspapers La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera have reported that one of Cardinal Pell's rivals in the Vatican, Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, is suspected of arranging for ?700,000 ($1.14 million) to be wired to recipients in Australia to ensure evidence against Cardinal Pell.
Cardinal Becciu has denied the allegations.
On Monday, lawyer Viv Waller, who represents the man who at trial in 2018 accused Cardinal Pell of sexually assaulting him in the 1990s, said she had seen the latest reports but rejected any suggestion that her client was connected to the allegations.
"My client denies any knowledge or receipt of any payments," Ms Waller said.
"He won't be commenting further in response to these allegations."
Cardinal Pell's barrister, Robert Richter, QC, has called for an international investigation into the reports. Mr Richter told the Australian Financial Review he wanted to "make sure the money trails are followed properly".
"I am treating these reports as requiring a proper investigation by all fiscal authorities to track the money coming to Australia," he said.
In 2018 Cardinal Pell was found guilty by a jury of sexually assaulting two choirboys at St Patrick's Cathedral in East Melbourne after a Sunday mass in the 1990s. One of the former choirboys died in 2014 without ever reporting the allegations to police.
Cardinal Pell, 79, was jailed in early 2019 but in April this year, after spending 13 months behind bars, he was released from prison and had his convictions quashed after a successful appeal to the High Court.
Cardinal Pell has always denied the allegations.
The High Court decision did not repudiate the former choirboy, with both Cardinal Pell's senior counsel, Bret Walker, SC, and Victoria's Director of Public Prosecutions, Kerri Judd, QC, agreeing in their submissions to the court that he was a credible, believable witness.
The publication of reports in Italy coincides with Cardinal Pell's return to the Vatican for the first time since he left Rome in 2017 to return to Melbourne to face the criminal charges.
Before he returned to Italy last month, Cardinal Pell released a statement saying: "I hope the cleaning of the stables continues in both the Vatican and Victoria."
A report in Corriere della Sera quoted a dossier of leaked documents, including wire transfers linked to Cardinal Becciu.
The rivalry between Cardinal Pell and Cardinal Becciu dates back to at least 2016 when the Australian, in his then role as the Vatican's treasurer, ordered an audit of the Holy See's finances.
Last month, Cardinal Becciu resigned from his position at the Vatican's office responsible for recognising saints. He and other Vatican officials are under investigation over their alleged involvement in a financial scandal.
If you or anyone you know needs support, you can contact the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732), Lifeline 131 114, or Beyond Blue 1300 224 636.
https://www.1800respect.org.au/
https://www.lifeline.org.au/
https://www.beyondblue.org.au/
https://www.smh.com.au/national/lawyer-denies-pell-s-accuser-ever-received-money-for-evidence-20201005-p56267.html
#10928382 at 2020-10-05 06:18:25 (UTC+1)
Q Research AUSTRALIA #10 - INFORMATION WARFARE Edition
>>10891616
Sacked cardinal 'used Vatican funds to bribe witnesses in Pell trial'
1/2
A senior Catholic cardinal has been accused of using ?700,000 ($1.14m) of Vatican funds to bribe witnesses to secure a sex abuse conviction against a rival.
Italian media have reported that Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, 72, is suspected of wiring the cash to recipients in Australia who helped to ensure hostile testimony in the abuse trial of Cardinal George Pell, who was accused of molesting choir boys in Melbourne in the 1990s.
The scandal cast a shadow yesterday over the publication of a key Vatican document calling for a more caring and sharing society and denouncing the evils of war.
Before he returned to Australia in 2017 where he was tried, jailed and acquitted on appeal, Cardinal Pell, 79, served as finance minister at the Vatican, where his attempts to clean up opaque accounting were opposed by Cardinal Becciu.
Quoting leaked documents, the Italian newspapers La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera reported at the weekend that Vatican investigators suspect that Cardinal Becciu hoped to use the money to definitively derail Cardinal Pell's transparency program, which threatened to expose Cardinal Becciu's allegedly corrupt management of Vatican cash.
Cardinal Becciu issued a strongly worded denial of the reports , stating: "I categorically deny interfering in any way in the trial of Cardinal Pell."
Cardinal Becciu held an influential role in distributing and investing millions of euros of Catholic donations as the deputy secretary of state between 2011 and 2018 before Francis put him in charge of running the Holy See's department responsible for making saints.
He was sacked from that job and stripped of the right to elect popes by Pope Francis last month, as Vatican investigators sifted through his spending record at the secretariat of state.
Their suspicions are focused on a multimillion investment he oversaw in a luxury property in Chelsea, London, which allegedly lost the Vatican money while making millions for consultants.
He is also allegedly suspected of funnelling Vatican cash to charities and businesses run by his three brothers. He has denied all wrongdoing.
(continued)