ROME – A Vatican court has found a former president of the Vatican Bank guilty of embezzlement and money laundering during the pontificates of St. John Paul and Pope Benedict XVI, closing a chapter in the long-term cleansing of its finances.
The court said Angelo Caloia and his lawyer, Gabriele Liuzzo, manipulated the bank’s scandalous real estate sales for their own profit from 2001 to 2008.
Mr. Caloia, who is 81 years old, and Mr. Liuzzo, 97, whose trial began in 2018, were each sentenced to 8 years and 11 months in prison. Mr Liuzzo’s son Lamberto Liuzzo, 55, was sentenced to five years and two months in prison for his role in the scheme. The men were also forced to pay the bank 23 million euros ($ 27.9 million) in compensation.
None of the men were present in court for conviction. Mr Caloia’s lawyer, Domenico Pulitanò, said he would appeal. Lawyers for Gabriele and Lamberto Liuzzo did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
At the 2018 indictment, Vatican prosecutors accused Mr. Caloia and his lawyer of causing losses of more than 50 million euros for the bank, officially known as the Institute for Religious Affairs. The men were accused of embezzling money from the sale of 29 bank properties, most in or near Rome. However, the court found insufficient evidence to convict on some of the properties.