{"id":5193,"date":"2024-03-22T22:00:43","date_gmt":"2024-03-22T20:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=5193"},"modified":"2024-03-22T22:00:43","modified_gmt":"2024-03-22T20:00:43","slug":"monastery-sought-e3m-fundraiser-ignored-govt-reminders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=5193","title":{"rendered":"Monastery sought , \u20ac3m fundraiser, ignored govt reminders"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/monastery-sought-e3m-fundraiser-ignored-govt-reminders.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"><\/div>\n<p>The infamous Osiou Avakoum monastery applied for a \u20ac3 million fundraiser to the interior ministry in 2020. However, it never submitted any of the necessary financial statements afterwards, it emerged on Friday.<\/p>\n<div class=\"cypru-video-ads\" id=\"cypru-1506209955\">\n<div id=\"cypru-1377210294\" data-cypru-trackid=\"478051\" data-cypru-trackbid=\"1\" class=\"cypru-target\">\n<div id=\"gpt-ad-9693573493258-0\">\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The application, aimed at collecting money to expand the monastery, was rubberstamped by the Tamassos Bishopric.<br \/>\nThe latest revelations are part of the seemingly unending scandal surrounding the Osiou Avakoum monastery in Fterikoudes village. So far, police are investigating financial crimes, sexual harassment and abuse which allegedly took place at the monastery. The anti-money laundering unit is also involved.<br \/>\nA safe box was found with \u20ac800,000 at the monastery, with the cash transferred under police watch to the Tamassos Bishopric on March 5 in the presence of far-right Elam party leader Christos Christou.<br \/>\n<strong>No arrests have been made so far.<\/strong><br \/>\nSenior interior ministry official Anastasia Kamenou told AlphaNews that after approving the monastery\u2019s application for fundraising in 2021, they expected a financial statement. Nonetheless, the monastery ignored eight reminders.<br \/>\n\u201cThe truth is, we didn\u2019t take any other action,\u201d Kamenou underlined.<br \/>\nShe was grilled over questions on double standards as the government\u2019s stance was compared to a separate case of a fundraiser for an ill patient.<br \/>\nOnce the patient died, a close relative was threatened with a court order to return money from the fundraiser back to the state.<br \/>\nKamenou was pressed to answer as to why the monastery did not face a similar approach and <strong>whether the church is above the law.<\/strong><br \/>\n\u201cThe monastery was not given preferential treatment,\u201d she said.<br \/>\nKamenou specified that a subsequent request for a fundraiser from the monastery was not approved in 2023, even though it provided bank statements showing \u20ac85,000 transfers for the previous fundraiser.<br \/>\nShe underlined that the ministry is only able to examine physical receipts and invoices, meaning cash donations that do not come with a paper trail are lost in the ether.<br \/>\nIn light of the latest revelations, the ministry will re-examine the case, Kamenou noted.<br \/>\nMPs have called for a thorough investigation on money laundering within the church, as the attorney-general has appointed two investigators to examine allegations that police officers were present on March 5 without the knowledge or orders from their seniors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Osiou Avakoum monastery applied for a \u20ac3 million fundraiser to the interior ministry in 2020 but failed to submit the necessary financial statements afterwards. The application for the fundraiser, intended for the expansion of the monastery, was approved by the Tamassos Bishopric. The monastery is currently embroiled in scandals involving financial crimes, sexual harassment, and abuse, with investigations being conducted by the police and the anti-money laundering unit. A safe box containing \u20ac800,000 was found at the monastery, and the cash was transferred to the Tamassos Bishopric under police supervision. No arrests have been made in connection with these issues. The interior ministry expected a financial statement from the monastery after approving its fundraising application in 2021 but did not receive any despite sending eight reminders. A subsequent fundraising request from the monastery in 2023 was not approved, even though it provided bank statements showing \u20ac85,000 transfers from the previous fundraiser. The ministry plans to re-examine the case in light of these revelations, and MPs have called for a thorough investigation into money laundering within the church. Two investigators have been appointed by the attorney-general to examine allegations involving police officers&#8217; presence at the monastery without senior officers&#8217; knowledge or orders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5194,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1521,1418,2011,1902,209,1512,233,2458,932,3,181,843,1312,575,1117,3086,2817,250,415,3032,1419,1342,2218,2796,387,2153,3085,2628,1060,1118,1696,184,214,2871,1519,759,1371,662,1827],"class_list":["post-5193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cyprus","tag-1521","tag-allegations","tag-arrests","tag-bank","tag-box","tag-cash","tag-church","tag-connection","tag-court","tag-cyprus","tag-donations","tag-elam","tag-expansion","tag-far-right","tag-financial-crimes","tag-financial-statements","tag-fundraiser","tag-google","tag-government","tag-interior-ministry","tag-investigation","tag-investigations","tag-investigators","tag-issues","tag-lost","tag-monastery","tag-monastery-fundraising","tag-money","tag-money-laundering","tag-osiou-avakoum-monastery","tag-party-leader","tag-police","tag-police-officers","tag-request","tag-safe-box","tag-scandal","tag-scandals","tag-sexual-harassment","tag-statement"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Monastery sought , \u20ac3m fundraiser, ignored govt reminders<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Monastery fundraising. monastery fundraising, financial statements, scandal\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Monastery sought , \u20ac3m fundraiser, ignored govt reminders\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Monastery fundraising. monastery fundraising, financial statements, scandal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=5193\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ch.jfdi.cc\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-03-22T20:00:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/monastery-sought-e3m-fundraiser-ignored-govt-reminders.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cyprus Mail\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cyprus Mail\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=5193#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=5193\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Cyprus Mail\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/606e0fbe40ab1cad97176ec3e4e248f8\"},\"headline\":\"Monastery sought , \u20ac3m fundraiser, ignored govt reminders\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-03-22T20:00:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=5193\"},\"wordCount\":368,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=5193#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/03\\\/monastery-sought-e3m-fundraiser-ignored-govt-reminders.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"000\",\"allegations\",\"arrests\",\"bank\",\"box\",\"cash\",\"church\",\"connection\",\"court\",\"Cyprus\",\"donations\",\"elam\",\"expansion\",\"far-right\",\"financial crimes\",\"financial statements\",\"fundraiser\",\"Google\",\"government\",\"INterior Ministry\",\"investigation\",\"investigations\",\"investigators\",\"issues\",\"lost\",\"monastery\",\"monastery fundraising\",\"money\",\"money laundering\",\"Osiou Avakoum monastery\",\"party leader\",\"Police\",\"police officers\",\"request\",\"safe box\",\"scandal\",\"scandals\",\"sexual harassment\",\"statement\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Cyprus\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=5193\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=5193\",\"name\":\"Monastery sought , \u20ac3m fundraiser, ignored govt reminders\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=5193#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=5193#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/03\\\/monastery-sought-e3m-fundraiser-ignored-govt-reminders.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-03-22T20:00:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/606e0fbe40ab1cad97176ec3e4e248f8\"},\"description\":\"Monastery fundraising. monastery fundraising, financial statements, scandal\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=5193#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=5193\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=5193#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/03\\\/monastery-sought-e3m-fundraiser-ignored-govt-reminders.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/03\\\/monastery-sought-e3m-fundraiser-ignored-govt-reminders.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"Monastery sought , \u20ac3m fundraiser, ignored govt reminders\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=5193#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Monastery sought , \u20ac3m fundraiser, ignored govt reminders\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/\",\"name\":\"ch.jfdi.cc\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/606e0fbe40ab1cad97176ec3e4e248f8\",\"name\":\"Cyprus Mail\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cyprus-mail.com\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?author=3\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Monastery sought , \u20ac3m fundraiser, ignored govt reminders","description":"Monastery fundraising. monastery fundraising, financial statements, scandal","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Monastery sought , \u20ac3m fundraiser, ignored govt reminders","og_description":"Monastery fundraising. monastery fundraising, financial statements, scandal","og_url":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=5193","og_site_name":"ch.jfdi.cc","article_published_time":"2024-03-22T20:00:43+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/monastery-sought-e3m-fundraiser-ignored-govt-reminders.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Cyprus Mail","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Cyprus Mail","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=5193#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=5193"},"author":{"name":"Cyprus Mail","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/#\/schema\/person\/606e0fbe40ab1cad97176ec3e4e248f8"},"headline":"Monastery sought , \u20ac3m fundraiser, ignored govt reminders","datePublished":"2024-03-22T20:00:43+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=5193"},"wordCount":368,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=5193#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/monastery-sought-e3m-fundraiser-ignored-govt-reminders.jpg","keywords":["000","allegations","arrests","bank","box","cash","church","connection","court","Cyprus","donations","elam","expansion","far-right","financial crimes","financial statements","fundraiser","Google","government","INterior Ministry","investigation","investigations","investigators","issues","lost","monastery","monastery fundraising","money","money laundering","Osiou Avakoum monastery","party leader","Police","police officers","request","safe box","scandal","scandals","sexual harassment","statement"],"articleSection":["Cyprus"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=5193","url":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=5193","name":"Monastery sought , \u20ac3m fundraiser, ignored govt reminders","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=5193#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=5193#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/monastery-sought-e3m-fundraiser-ignored-govt-reminders.jpg","datePublished":"2024-03-22T20:00:43+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/#\/schema\/person\/606e0fbe40ab1cad97176ec3e4e248f8"},"description":"Monastery fundraising. monastery fundraising, financial statements, scandal","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=5193#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=5193"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=5193#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/monastery-sought-e3m-fundraiser-ignored-govt-reminders.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/monastery-sought-e3m-fundraiser-ignored-govt-reminders.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707,"caption":"Monastery sought , \u20ac3m fundraiser, ignored govt reminders"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=5193#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Monastery sought , \u20ac3m fundraiser, ignored govt reminders"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/","name":"ch.jfdi.cc","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/#\/schema\/person\/606e0fbe40ab1cad97176ec3e4e248f8","name":"Cyprus Mail","sameAs":["https:\/\/cyprus-mail.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?author=3"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5193\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}