Vatican Prosecutor Appeals Verdict in High-Profile Embezzlement Case

Cardinal Angelo Becciu found guilty, while defense lawyers criticize Vatican's legal system for lack of fair trial.

Vatican's chief prosecutor, Alessandro Diddi, has appealed a court verdict that largely dismantled his theory of a grand conspiracy to defraud the Holy See of millions of euros, but found Cardinal Angelo Becciu guilty of embezzlement.
The trial involved the Holy See's 350 million euro investment in converting a former Harrod's warehouse into luxury apartments.
Despite the tribunal rejecting most of Diddi's 487-page indictment, it ordered the defendants to pay some 366 million euros in restitution.
Becciu, the first cardinal prosecuted by the Vatican criminal tribunal, was convicted of embezzlement involving the original London investment and two tangent cases.
Defense lawyers have criticized the Vatican's legal system, citing the prosecutors' ability to withhold evidence from discovery and the sweeping powers granted to the prosecution as proof that their clients couldn't receive a fair trial.