Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, who was convicted in an unprecedented Vatican court process and forced to resign his position, insisted he can still vote in the upcoming papal conclave.
Becciu told Italian media on Tuesday that he would be participating in the conclave, and that his cardinal privileges remained intact, according to the National Catholic Register.
In 2020, Becciu forfeited his position as prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, after an investigation alleged he committed financial crimes.
Pope Francis also required Becciu to forfeit his rights as a cardinal, including the right to vote at conclaves. Becciu agreed, though he was allowed to keep his cardinal title.
Becciu was allegedly at the center of a 2014 London real estate fiasco, in which the Vatican ultimately spent hundreds of millions of dollars on a disastrous property investment, according to BBC.
He was also accused of funneling money to his home diocese in Sardinia, Italy, much of which allegedly benefited his own family.
He also reportedly sent €600,000 (about $684,000) to Cecilia Marogna, a woman who claimed she needed it to rescue a nun in Mali, an African country. Instead, she reportedly spent much of the money on