Angelo Caloia, former head of Institute for Works of Religion (IOR), was sentenced with 8 years and 11 months imprisonment after being charged of money laundering and embezzlement. Two Italian lawyers who were consultants of the bank were also convicted for allegedly participating in pilfering money during the sale of Italian real estate owned by the bank between 2001 and 2008. Each will have to pay fines and will be permanently prohibited from holding public office.
CNN: 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
CNN reports that Angelo Caloia, the former head of the Vatican bank, has been sentenced to nearly nine years in prison for money laundering and aggravated embezzlement.
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.
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.
The Guardian: Angelo Caloia, 81, becomes highest-ranking Vatican official convicted of financial crime
Angelo Caloia, former head of the Vatican bank, together with Italian lawyers Gabriele Liuzzo and his son Lamberto Liuzzo, were charged with participating in a scheme in which they embezzled money while managing the sale of Italian real estate owned by the bank between 2001 and 2008, according to The Guardian.
They allegedly siphoned off tens of millions of euros by declaring far less than the true amount of the sale.
