By Martin Hellicar
RESIGNATION may for now have saved the shamed former Bishop of Limassol from the full brunt of the Church’s wrath but he is not off the hook completely, Justice Minister Nicos Koshis made clear yesterday.
The minister confirmed that Chrysanthos still faced the possibility of being charged with fraud after the completion of a police investigation into his financial dealings. Part of this investigation would be completed within days, Koshis said.
“For us the matter is not closed, it will only be closed after the investigation is completed and the file is ready to send to the Attorney- general so he can decide on further actions.”
Chrysanthos, whose resignation the Holy Synod accepted on Monday, is suspected of involvement in 30 fraud-related cases across the globe.
Koshis said case investigators had already been to Greece and Britain to take statements, and would be travelling to Brussels soon and the US in January to complete their inquiries.
“The file on the $3.7 million dollars case should be ready to send to the Attorney general next week,” Koshis said.
Involvement in a $3.7 million conspiracy to defraud British investors was the first allegation to hit the former Bishop, five months ago.
“Then we are preparing the file on the $1.5 million of the Portuguese, which I hope will be ready before the end of the year, and then we have the case of the $6.5 million which will take longer,” Koshis said.
The minister was referring to alleged scams to defraud investors in Portugal and the US respectively.
Criminal charges, if brought, could mean Chrysanthos facing more Church punishment and would further tarnish the institution’s reputation, already badly damaged by the Chrysanthos affair.
Chrysanthos, who has always maintained his complete innocence, resigned after the Synod presented him with an eight-point indictment. It included charges that he had acted out of greed and for his own benefit, profiteering through currency speculation, taking advantage of his ecclesiastical position for illicit gain and making unauthorised use of the holy seal to guarantee huge loans. The synod suspended the disgraced cleric from his duties for two years.
Newspaper reports yesterday suggested the Church would provide Chrysanthos with a luxury residence, servants and £1,000 a month during his suspension. He would also continue to act as a Church emissary abroad, the reports suggested.
Archbishop Chrysostomos did not comment on these reports directly yesterday, but said “we could not abandon him (Chrysanthos) or leave him hungry without pay or anything.”
The Church leader also tried to put a lid on talk of dissent within the Synod over the Chrysanthos decision.
Bishop Pavlos of Kyrenia has stated that the Synod decision to accept the former Limassol Bishop’s resignation had not been unanimous. He added that he for one had wanted Chrysanthos to face the charges and pay the cost.
“I cannot say the decision was not unanimous, it was a mistake for the Bishop of Kyrenia to say so. It was unanimous, all the brothers signed it,” the archbishop said.
“There may have been opinions expressed before the final decision was made, but in the end everyone signed (the decision).”
