Two former clerics sentenced for €1.5 million church fraud
Between 2018 and 2023, the 70-year-old former archimandrite told parishioners he was seeking the position of metropolitan bishop of Thessaloniki and, with the help of a 63-year-old former priest, collected over €1.5 million in “donations.”
The former archimandrite remains in prison, while the former priest was released under restrictions due to health problems, including the obligation to report at his local police station twice a month and a ban on leaving the country. Two other co-defendants, aged 53 and 36, were acquitted.
Authorities said the scheme involved falsified letters from institutions such as the Archdiocese of Athens, the Presidency of the Republic, the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the European Commission to convince parishioners to provide money and gifts. Victims testified they were promised the funds would be returned after the archimandrite’s election and were offered positions in church administration as incentives.
In court, the former priest said he acted out of loyalty and gratitude to the archimandrite, serving mainly as a “messenger” and bank intermediary, and that he did not personally collect funds but facilitated the transactions.
Both men were sentenced to 12.5 years in prison, with no mitigating circumstances recognized, and each was fined €20,000. They were convicted of fraud, money laundering and participation in a criminal organization, as well as forgery and the use of forged documents.
Kathimerini
