Athens, October 5, 2022
The Russian St. Panteleimon's Monastery on Mt. Athos. Photo: Wikipedia
Greek authorities have been closely monitoring the bank accounts of Athonite monks over the past year, having flagged at least 20 international money transfers as suspicious.
The majority of the flagged transactions reportedly originated within Russia, but also from several Balkan states.
“A source with knowledge of the matter” told KNews that large sums have been winding up in the accounts not of the monasteries, but of individual monks. The transactions were flagged mainly because of the amount transferred—tens or even hundreds of thousands of euros, and in one case, more than a million.
However, the investigation concluded that the money was intended to finance a mission in Africa. Sources close to the investigation have also clarified that the funds aren’t coming from legal or natural persons who have been sanctioned since the start of the war in February.
“One of the scenarios being considered is that wealthy Russians have chosen to take their money out of Russia with the help of monks from Mount Athos in order to save their funds in the event of the collapse of their country’s financial institutions or even the freezing of their funds by the Kremlin because of the war,” write KNews.
The Patriarchate of Constantinople and others in the Greek Orthodox world have been worried about Russian influence on Mt. Athos for years.
However, despite their suspicions, “No evidence has emerged capable of fully confirming information that the transactions are part of a broader, organized effort to penetrate Russia’s hold on Mount Athos,” a KNews source said.
Authorities also hypothesize that money is from illegal activities and “is being legalized in the form of donations to Athonite monks.”
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