Cardinal Angelo Becciu, the highest-ranking Catholic cleric to be charged with financial crimes, allegedly knew his friend Cecilia Marogna was syphoning off funds from the Secretariat of State, a Vatican police commissioner told his trial in the Vatican on Thursday.
“On October 3, 2020, when we had our meeting with him, Cardinal Angelo Becciu was aware that Cecilia Marogna was syphoning off, with personal expenses, the money sent to her by the Secretariat of State,” said Gendarmerie Commissioner Stefano De Santis.
“He had known for months. He did not show surprise at what we told him about the woman’s behaviour. He was only concerned by the fact that Cecilia Marogna’s name might come out because that, he said, would have caused great damage to himself and his relatives.”
Becciu is among 10 people on trial in the Vatican for fraud, including in relation to the loss-making acquisition of a London property on Sloane Avenue when he was the Substitute for General Affairs in the Secretariat of State.
The cardinal, who resigned as head of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in 2020 when the scandal broke, is also accused of directing Church funds and contracts towards bodies linked to his relatives in Sardinia.
Pope Francis restored Becciu’s cardinal’s rank despite the trial on August 22.
The pontiff has repeatedly said he believes the cardinal is innocent.
