Pope approved payment for Vatican to exit botched deal, court told

FILE PHOTO: Trial begins at the Vatican for 10 people, including prominent Italian cardinal Angelo Becciu, who are charged with financial crimes including embezzlement, money laundering, fraud, extortion and abuse of office, at the Vatican, July 27, 2021. Vatican Media/Handout via REUTERS

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - A defendant at a Vatican trial testified on Wednesday that superiors including Pope Francis approved a $15 million settlement to get the Vatican out of a botched London real estate deal to avoid a total loss.

Testifying for more than four hours, Monsignor Mauro Carlino described the final phases of the venture, which began when the Vatican's Secretariat of State invested 350 million euros ($390 million) in 2014 with Italian broker Raffaele Mincione to buy a luxury building in London.