Rome, Italy, Feb 9, 2021 / 17:01 pm
Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, the apostolic nuncio to the Democratic Republic of Congo, announced last week that he will enter a plea bargain with an Italian court after he and his brother Guido were accused of money laundering, but will not admit guilt.
The prosecutor was investigating the alleged smuggling of Argentine meat into Italy managed by the archbishop's father, Gerolamo.
The legal issue, which does not involve the Holy See, was a family business in which Archbishop Balestrero "acted in full good faith," according to investigators.
The prosecutor focused on money transferred by the archbishop to his brother Guido as a donation. According to the investigators, the process in which the money was transferred (some $4.8 million) constituted at the end a scheme to launder the money.