The so called ‘Vatopedi scandal’ is nonexistent!

by Emilios Polygenis

There are many indications that political intrigue and other dark purposes are behind the fact that the so called ‘Vatopedi scandal’  is kept open. They slander Orthodoxy, the Holy Mount Athos and eventually Greece for their own means. There are many people who still wonder about some issues:
Where are the bribes? Where are the offshore companies that Vatopedi is supposed to own? Where is the so called ‘political monies’?
They say it is a crime!!!! But normally we pin point the crime and then we find the criminals. Funnily here happened exactly the opposite. We found the ‘criminals’ and now they are seeking to find if there was a crime committed!!!! Two years have already gone since the case on Vatopedi begun; we have already had five committee finds of exemplary fictional merit, but bribes and black monies are nonexistent. Now, they are focusing on the ponds and the large lakes. They think they can feed us with grass, which it perhaps grows on the shores of the ponds and the large lakes. You know what I mean!
What have the experts at the investigating committee said so far and why have these been shoved under the carpet?
Have any bribes been given?
Speaking at the investigating Committee, Mr. Panayiotis Mantouvalos, who is a member of the Committee for the prevention of the legalization of illegal funds and head of the 5th Subcommittee for the Special investigations in the Attiki region, was asked whether the investigation had concluded that there is indeed the possibility that Vatopedi had actually handed out bribes. He said: “There is no such find”.
Vatopedi Offshore companies…
Really now! Where are the so called offshore companies that Vatopedi is supposed to own? Asked about these famous offshore companies, Mr. Mantouvalos clarifies that the companies which Vatopedi owned are not offshore but Cypriot companies. “They are not offshore”.  But we must clarify here, that the monastery did not own a share in these companies.  Then, Mr. Mantouvalos declared that all monies administered by the monastery are clean. “By studying the facts of this report, I declare that the origin of the monies is known”. Asked  if the monies are directed towards private companies owned by individuals, with whom the monastery is indirectly involved, he said: “ There is no prohibition in this”.
Therefore: There are neither offshore companies owned nor “black monies” trafficked by this Athonite monastery. By the way, the monastery is under the scrutiny of all other Athonite monasteries for every case.  Every faithful and the whole of the Church have recognized that this brotherhood has a long history and spiritual tradition, and so it will remain.
It must be mentioned that according to the finds of the investigating committee, neither Abbot Efrem, nor Arsenios monk, have any personal bank accounts. Let’s also not forget what the Abbot of Vatopedi has publicly told the TV program” Fakelloi” presented by Mr. Papahelas: “ If you find one single Euro in my pocket or in any bank account, I will personally lock myself  up in a prison cell for the rest of my life”.
Arsenios monk had also stressed to the investigating committee: “If you find  even a single Euro in a personal account or a personal account anywhere since I became a monk in the Holy Mount Athos, I will honestly find my way to a prison cell tomorrow morning”.
Political monies!
Some political parties are still shoving under the carpet the so called “political monies” issue!! While all know the truth and talk about it among themselves, they still keep this issue open.  How could  they suppose that what they do among themselves and between various companies is done by Athonite monasteries? The funny thing is that, most of them have visited Vatopedi and the Holy Mount Athos and are acquainted with the genuineness of the brotherhood and they probably recognize that all these scenarios which have been woven around Vatopedi go well beyond fiction.
Someone from the investigating Mps at the committee has said: “The important thing is to find the final recipient. What we are interested in is: to find if any politician is involved”. Here are the possibilities!
One Mp is seeking to find out whether an Anthonite monastery is dealing with political monies. But, Mr. Mantouvalos astonishes him: “ We know who the final recipient is. This is what makes the difference. If these monies had been illegal, “black monies”, and have derived from an illegal activity by the monastery and did not derive from a loan, then it would have been blocked. However, the origin of the monies is known. It comes from a loan…There is no illegal activity found in this case”.
The specialists have decided that there is nothing reprehensible, nothing illegal, no bribes, and no offshore companies; a storm in a tea cup.
One wonders… Just because it serves them to keep the case open for their personal reasons, how they dream up infinite scenarios and weave myths for a nonexistent case…!
source: Romfea.gr
translated from Greek by Olga Kokkinos, journalist