This article was originally published in Greek
Two senior officials of the Catholic Church in Greece are being investigated by anti-money laundering authorities on suspicion of embezzling 3 million euros.
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An investigation by Greece’s anti-money laundering authorities has found that funds from the Catholic Church were used in “sacred” investments in nightclubs. The investigation has already resulted in the seizure of assets from five Peloponnesian businessmen.
While searching for evidence of fraud in the church’s disputed bank accounts, authorities implicated two senior priests, followed by five businessmen.
Evidence shows that millions of euros were embezzled from accounts controlled by priests, of which approximately 3 million euros reportedly went “missing” from these church accounts and ended up being invested in nightclubs. are.
Five nightclub owners in the Peloponnese have been accused of receiving allegedly laundered funds, and the head of Greece’s anti-money laundering authority has frozen their assets and bank accounts.
The money laundering discovered during a surprise audit appears to have started seven or eight years ago, with the most recent incident involving an alleged illegal transfer of 50,000 euros being made a few days ago.
The case, which charges the cleric and the nightclub owner with embezzlement and money laundering, has been referred to the chief prosecutor for criminal investigation.
In response to the allegations, the Catholic Church said in a statement Thursday that it was not aware of the priests’ actions.
“Following today’s reports regarding embezzlement and money laundering, we declare that we have no official information on this matter. We therefore request updates from the relevant authorities so that we can take an official position on this matter. ”, the company said.
