Ex-Bishop’s lawyer ordered to pay $16 million to charity foundation

By Charlie Charalambous

THE AMERICAN lawyer of the disgraced former Bishop of Limassol, Chrysanthos, has been ordered by a US court to pay $16 million to a charity foundation he defrauded in a get-rich-quick scheme. A US District Court judge last week ordered Washington lawyer Lewis Rivlin to pay the money after promising Ecuador’s Fundacion Perez Pallares a 1,600 per cent return on its $1 million investment. Judge Royce C Lambert ordered Rivlin not only to make good his guarantee for the $1 million, but also the $15 million the foundation for poor girls believed it would earn on the money. Rivlin was acting on behalf of then Bishop Chrysanthos, who acted as guarantor for the investment. Following Rivlin’s instructions, the foundation wired its money to Chrysanthos last year. The foundation was told that the former bishop had links to lucrative trading programmes that could multiply the initial investment within a 60- day period. However, the Greek bank account chosen by Chrysanthos was operated by a Greek businessman known only as Dr Zoudas. Rivlin in his defence said that the former bishop had been duped by Dr Zoudas and had hired fraud investigators to try and recover the money. The money is now frozen in Zoudas’ account and is at the centre of legal proceedings under way in Greece. According to the foundation’s lawyer, Larry Sharp, Rivlin has paid only $200,000 back to the charity. Last November, the Holy Synod accepted Chrysanthos’ resignation amidst a mire of corruption allegations and suspended him from the clergy for two years. Chrysanthos’ resignation followed an eight-charge Synod indictment accusing him of profiteering through currency speculation and corruption. The former bishop also faces legal proceedings for allegedly trying to defraud a UK-based investor of $3.7 million in a similar get-rich-quick scheme. Other cases being investigated include allegations that two Portuguese investors were swindled of $1.5 million by the former bishop. Police say they have received over 30 similar fraud allegations against the bishop.

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