Vatican fraud trial sees more delay amid procedural errors

By NICOLE WINFIELD
Associated Press

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican’s big fraud and embezzlement trial has suffered another delay. The tribunal postponed any further decisions until prosecutors finish redoing their investigation for four of the original 10 defendants.  The delay means the trial won’t get off the ground until mid-February at the earliest. Tribunal president Giuseppe Pignatone said that by then he could “finally, hopefully” unify the two branches of the trial and start in earnest. The trial concerns the Holy See’s 350 million-euro investment in a London residential property. Prosecutors allege some Vatican officials and Italian brokers fleeced the Holy See of millions of euros in fees and commissions, much of it donations from the faithful. The defendants deny wrongdoing.