The timing chosen today for two meetings is not at all coincidental, one regarding the scandal with the Saint Habakkuk Monastery and one concerning the naturalisation of foreign investors and businessmen.
The Attorney-General General Giorgos Savvides and the Deputy Attorney-General General Savvas Angelides, along with a team of legal experts, will first meet with the investigators probing the cases related to the naturalisation scandal.
This will be followed by another meeting on the same day regarding the progress of the investigations into the Saint Habakkuk scandal.
Both investigations are at a critical juncture.
For the Saint Habakkuk Monastery, investigators have crystallised a picture of what was happening, while concerning the naturalisations, decisions need to be made on three major cases pending in the Legal Service.
It is expected that decisions will also be made on the significant case involving over 20 instances of naturalisation, in which a major law firm is implicated.
In statements made yesterday regarding the investigations into the Saint Habakkuk Monastery, the Attorney-General stated, “Now that various units and criminal investigators we appointed have had the opportunity to conduct some work, within the coming days I intend, and we have already invited all the investigators and prosecutors, to hold a meeting at the Legal Service to evaluate the current status of this matter.”
When asked to comment on whether the case file with the video depicting a monk displaying violent behaviour towards a woman is at the Legal Service, he responded that he is currently not informed, but he will receive updates following the meeting with the involved investigators.
Regarding the investigations into the Saint Habakkuk Monastery, investigators are examining allegations made by bishop Tamasou Isaiah against the archimandrites for financial irregularities and, on the other hand, allegations by the archimandrites against their metropolitan for the events of March 5th, when the Monastery was closed.
Three other cases related to the leakage of personal data via a video installed in the Monastery are also being examined, along with allegations of violence against a woman by a monk and sexual harassment of a civilian.
Furthermore, next week the progress of the investigations into the sanctions imposed on Russians by the USA will be examined.
Information suggests that the investigations into the Russian steel magnate Alexey Mordashov are in the final stages, who is alleged to have transferred over one billion dollars in shares to evade sanctions.
