Cecilia Marogna, an Italian who had been given half a million euros by the Holy See on an account in Slovenia, was arrested Tuesday in Milan by the financial police, several Italian media reported.
She was arrested at the home of a friend in Milan (north) under an international arrest warrant issued by Interpol at the request of Vatican investigators, said the website of the daily
Il Corriere della Sera
.
To read also: Looting of the Vatican: "Even the Pope's account has been despoiled"
The revelations in the Italian press on this mysterious woman, nicknamed the "
Lady of the cardinal
" or the "
Lady of 500,000 euros
", had contributed to heighten the suspicions on Cardinal Angelo Becciu, suddenly dismissed on September 24 by Pope Francis for suspicion of embezzlement.
Women, espionage, power games, squandered Church money ... A series of document leaks in the Italian press, after the leave given to the influential cardinal, had revealed the existence of Cecilia Marogna and her role trouble.
This 39-year-old woman, with a classic look and a face hidden by big glasses, told the press in early October that she had been paid as a mediator to release priests and sisters kidnapped in Africa or Asia, confirming in several interviews the payment of half a million euros to the account of his company, “
Logsic
”, created at the end of 2018 in the Slovenian capital.
The young woman is from Sardinia just like Cardinal Becciu, 72, who made the decision to pay her when he was number two in the Secretariat of State, at the top of the Vatican hierarchy.
"
I did not steal a euro,
" she had justified herself to the Domani newspaper.
"
I have a letter from the cardinal authorizing me to travel and to have diplomatic relations to help the Church in difficult territories
", she explained, specifying that she knew "
members of the leadership of the Italian secret services
".
"
I am not Becciu's mistress
," she told Corriere della Sera, presenting herself as "
a political analyst and an intelligence expert
" having built "
a network of relations in Africa and the Middle East to protect the nunciatures and the missions
”of the Church.
Several media had received an anonymous envelope with the accounts of his company, like the Italian television investigation program "
Le Iene
", which had gone to Ljubljana to film a simple letterbox.
In its report, the show showed that some 200,000 euros had been spent on luxury goods, for example 12,000 euros for an armchair.
“
After so much work, I think I have the right to buy myself a chair!
», Rebelled Cecilia Marogna, presenting herself as a victim of intrigues at the Vatican.
