Vatican tribunal to hand down judgments in trial linked to London property deal

Cardinal Angelo Becciu is accused of embezzlement over a property deal (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

A once-powerful cardinal and nine other people are to learn their fate on Saturday when a Vatican tribunal hands down verdicts in a complicated financial trial that has aired the tiny city state’s dirty laundry and tested its justice system.

Judge Giuseppe Pignatone will read out the verdicts of the three-judge panel in the converted courtroom in the Vatican Museums, where prosecutors and defence attorneys have sparred for two-and-a-half years over the details of a money-losing investment in a luxury London property.