ROME — (AP) — The Vatican insisted Thursday at the close of a trial in Britain that it was the victim of a yearslong fraud over its investment in a London property, arguing that one of its main brokers by no means acted “in good faith.”
The Vatican submitted a concluding statement at the close of the trial brought by British-Italian broker Raffaele Mincione. A verdict is expected after the summer.
Mincione is seeking to clear his name in the British courts after he was convicted by a Vatican criminal tribunal last year for his role in the Holy See’s 350-million-euro ($375 million) investment in the former Harrod’s warehouse. He is asking the British High Court to declare that he acted “in good faith” in his dealings with the Vatican.
The Holy See had tried unsuccessfully to get the case dismissed, but once on trial, doubled down on its claims that Mincione and a fellow broker engaged in a conspiracy to fleece it of millions of euros by …