The Vatican City State Court has sentenced former Vatican Bank President Angelo Caloia to almost 9 years in prison for scamming and enriching the sale of property. Caloia and his lawyer, Gabriele Liuzzo, have been sentenced to eight years and eleven months in jail for the illegal appropriation of some twenty properties, worth tens of millions of euros. Caloña was president of the Vatican Institute of Religious Works (IEO) for more than 20 years.

The son of lawyer Lamberto Liuzzo has also been sentenced to five years and two months in prison, in addition to demanding a "very high" compensation of daños.Los three defendants must compensate the Vatican Bank and the property association SGIR with 23 million euros, according to the Public Prosecutor's Office.

Conduct of the trial

The case for money laundering and embezzlement began two and a half years ago, in May 2018. The former Director General of IOR Lelio Scaletti, who had died before the investigations were closed, also participated in the administration under investigation by the Office. This is the first trial of the Vatican’s justice for a financial crime, according to the Prosecutor’s Office.

At the beginning of December, the Vatican prosecutor, Alessandro Diddi, had asked for eight years in prison for Angelo Calaoia and Gabriele Liuzzo for money laundering and embezzlement, as well as the seizure of more than 50 million euros of his accounts.