The vicar in Crete spoke to Ant1 and essentially “showed” the head of the diocese of Syros as the manager of the accounts.
“Only the bishop commands the account”
As he characteristically stated, “I couldn’t do anything on this account. Because only the Bishop can command this account, I can’t go in and do anything inside. It’s (account) in my name, because I’m a Vicar here in Heraklion and it should be in my name, but the Bishop is in charge of all this.”
At the same time, he explained that as vicar of a Catholic church in Crete he has accounts in his name, however, because Crete administratively belongs to the Diocese of Syros, all money – remittances and deposits – are managed – according to the code of canon law – by the bishop of Syros and not by the own!
“I’m not involved in anything, I have nothing to do with these things. It’s written in my name, but I can’t get in, do anything. Is my name there by mistake? Everyone makes a mistake, and in the state there is a mistake. Let’s find justice in court” he said at the end.
Accounts of 2 companies and 5 individuals are blocked
In addition, according to SKAI, the provision of freezing the bank accounts is signed by the President of the Anti-Criminal Activities Authority and concerns companies with activity in Patras as well as natural persons, the majority of whom reside in the Achaean capital.
According to the Authority’s document, the investigation revealed that natural persons who managed the bank accounts of a Private Legal Entity of a religious nature, transferred sums of money to third natural and legal persons without justifying the specific transactions.
As the Authority points out, the amount obtained from this specific criminal activity exceeds 3,000,000 euros, and the five natural persons as well as the two sole proprietorships who committed the crime of money laundering are seized and their assets are confiscated of a value equal to the proceeds of crime.
According to the information of tempo24.news the two companies are a sole proprietorship and a limited partnership.
Eight-year stream
As described in the Authority’s conclusion on money laundering, a high-ranking member of the Catholic church and one of his subordinates have been sending large sums of money to 5 people in Patras through bank transfers for 8 years. How much ended up in nightclub investments and even gambling agencies to pay off gambling debts.
The main recipient of the money is said to be a night club owner in Patras, who was previously convicted at first instance for blackmailing the Metropolitan with a “pink” video. According to police sources, he had managed to extort approximately 500,000 euros with remittances within 1.5 years, while the amount of money he had received in cash was unknown. The competent authorities do not exclude the remittances coming from the priests of the Catholic Church of Greece in the last 8 years, to be the product of similar extortion.
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