A Vatican judge has ordered 10 people, including an Italian cardinal, to stand trial for alleged financial crimes.

Cardinal Angelo Becciu has become the highest-ranked cleric in the Vatican to be indicted over charges that include embezzlement and abuse of office.

The 73-year-old cardinal, who denies wrongdoing, was forced to resign last September, but retains his title.

The charges relate to a multi-million-dollar property purchase with Church funds in London.

Cardinal Becciu was a close aide to Pope Francis and previously had a key job in the Vatican's Secretariat of State, which manages the Church's donations.

He will face questions over a controversial loss-making deal to invest in the luxury London building while he was in charge at the secretariat; the deal has since been the subject of a financial investigation.

The $200m (£155m) paid for the apartment block in Sloane Avenue came out of Church money through offshore funds and companies - a deal the cardinal had defended in the past.

In a statement released on Saturday by those close to him, the cardinal said he was "the victim of a conspiracy" and protested his "absolute innocence", the AFP news agency reports.

Two former heads of the Vatican's financial intelligence unit are among the 10 defendants.

They face charges including embezzlement, money-laundering, fraud, extortion and abuse of office.

An Italian woman who worked for Cardinal Becciu was charged with embezzlement last year.

The first hearing is set to be held on 27 July, according to the statement on Vatican News.