2023-12-06 11:35:39
The acquittal of all charges against the financier was requested because the incident does not exist or does not constitute a crime. Once again, the defense denounced “an error of perspective” in the construction of the criminal process Protocol 45/19
Barbara Castelli – Vatican City
“It is an incontrovertible fact that the Secretary of State managed very important patrimonial reserves, and this even before the arrival of Monsignor Becciu. And he did so through financial investments, even complex ones, that were entrusted to Italian banks, foreign banks, people Therefore, the temple merchants, if one can speak of merchants, had already been there for a long time. This is one of the passages from the reflections formulated today by the lawyer Claudio Urciuoli, before requesting acquittal, for all charges, because the fact does not exist or does not constitute a crime, for Raffaele Mincione, accused of aggravated fraud, embezzlement and embezzlement aggravated, aggravated abuse of functions, aggravated misappropriation, self-laundering and aggravated corruption. The 82nd hearing of the trial on the financial investments of the Secretary of State in London, in fact, was dedicated to the conclusions of the financier’s defense lawyers, for whom the Prosecutor’s Office requested 11 years and 5 months in prison, perpetual disqualification from public office and a fine of 15,450 euros. In the multipurpose room of the Vatican Museums, in addition to him, Enrico Crassus and Fabrizio Tirabassi were accused.
Perspective error and the four cornerstones of judgment
The lawyers reviewed the facts and documents of the matter linked to the well-known London palace, deploring, although done “in good faith”, the “error of perspective” committed by the Promoter of Justice. “Instead of looking at the Secretary of State from the outside,” he clarified, “that is, from the point of view of the regulated financial world, from the point of view of Raffaele Mincione, it was presumed and assumed that Raffaele Mincione had not only the possibility but also the obligation to neutralize the legal, international financial categories, in favor of those that the Office of the Promoter of Justice had identified in the law in force in the Vatican City State”. “From this genetic defect, from this defect in perspective,” he added, “a series of disastrous and clearly incomprehensible consequences for the defendant’s position have been derived. The concept of risk propensity, which is an intrinsic characteristic of any type of investment , it became a speculation, and everything was built on this concept.’
Claudio Urciuoli, among other things, focused on what – in his opinion – are the cornerstones on which the entire process was based. Firstly, the figure of Monsignor Alberto Perlasca, the “key witness”, for whom even the Promoter’s Office “had to raise its hands in the face of a contradictory situation.” The Pence of Saint Peter, “pop and media lintel of this process”: “The charitable donations of the faithful around the world squandered in defiance of any ethical tension.” “On this issue,” he insisted, “I must say that we have witnessed a complete turnaround.” And a third cornerstone: the Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus, “according to which the Secretary of State did not have legal powers to manage its own reserves.” “This seemed so absurd,” he said, “that the same party accusations were quick to repudiate this position.” And finally, “the most surreal part”, Luciano Capaldo, presented as “the maxi-consultant, the savior of the country”, “who came to tell us that the figure of 275 million pounds was a figure beyond all logic of market,” the man who “must be credited with abandoning the residential development and converting the Sloane Avenue property into offices.” “The Secretary of State, by disposing of the property in such an unreasonably hasty manner,” he continued, “conducted a sale at a loss. History will judge this fact: do you know when? When Bain Capital resells the property and we see how much get out of it.” The lawyer also evoked the figure of Enrico Craso, who “certainly could not be a public official”; that of the broker Ivan Simetovic and the commissions of Aspigam International; that of Gianluigi Torzi, “an interlocutor chosen by the Secretary of State” and not by the accused; even remembering other people who could have been summoned, but who, however, are not prosecuted.
The financier’s defense has been the protagonist of the 81st hearing of the trial on the events in London. On December 5, the petitions of the lawyers of the…
Fraud and artifice
In the second part of the morning, lawyer Ester Molinaro also participated, focusing on fraud, “a dead crime, killed, not during the trial, but already during the investigation.” “The appraisals carried out on the value of the property”, he remarked, also recalling that the accession to the fund’s shares was done with financing and “not by defrauding the Obolo di San Pietro”, “are credible, reliable, you just have to understand the calculation criteria, where the two categories are taken to extremes: the calculation criteria for immovable, static, immovable assets and that of projects. They are diametrically opposed criteria.” The Secretary of State”, she concluded, “did not buy a good, but rather decided to participate in a project, which was locked in a fund”, the Athena Capital Global Opportunities (Gof).
On December 6, the interventions of the defense lawyers of Cardinal Angelo Becciu and Fabrizio Tirabassi will conclude. At the end of next week, once the replies have concluded, the sentence should be read.
#Vatican #process #Mincione #lawyers #merchants #temple #time