Searches of people linked to Becciu in Vatican Bank case

Finance police staged a series of searches on Tuesday to seize evidence in relation to a money laundering probe by prosecutors in the Sardinian city of Sassari regarding bodies linked to friends and relatives of Cardinal Angelo Becciu that received funds from the Vatican Bank and Italian Bishops Conference CEI.

The searches took place in Rome and in the towns of Ozieri, Pattada and Bono, in the province of Sassari.

Becciu is among 10 people on trial in the Vatican 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.

He resigned as head of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in 2020 when the scandal regarding the property deal broke.

He is the highest-ranked Catholic cleric ever to face charges of financial crimes.