Defence lawyer claims Avakoum monastery case was built to conceal bishop’s loan

Nicosia, Cyprus. Defence lawyer Kostis Efstathiou told the Nicosia criminal court on Monday that the entire Avakoum monastery affair was fabricated to conceal a loan taken by Tamasos Bishop Isaias, which was repaid only in part.

Defence argument on the loan

Efstathiou, who represents the monk Nektarios, said Isaias first borrowed €155,000 from the monastery and later received further sums, bringing the total to €225,000. According to the lawyer, only €40,000 of that total was ever returned, and he said Isaias should be called to give evidence.

He argued that the monastery’s abbot council then resolved to report Isaias to the synod of the church. In his account, the Avakoum scandal was created so that the bishop could avoid repaying the money. “This is the essence of the case,” Efstathiou stressed.

The charges

The monks Nektarios and Porfyrios are on trial. The charges include conspiracy to defraud, forgery, use of false documents, theft by proxy, handling stolen goods, money laundering, interfering with judicial proceedings and submitting fraudulent tax returns.

Cross-examination of the prosecution witness

Efstathiou was questioning prosecution witness father Dionysios Koptides. The witness said he knew nothing about the amount owed or about any signed document on its repayment. He also addressed the matter of sums collected in churches to help fire victims in Greece. He added that he did not know, could not remember or had not heard of other payments, trips abroad or communications.

Asked about his post inviting people to submit complaints about the Avakoum monastery, Koptides said he acted on instructions from Isaias. He said nothing like this had occurred during his own time there, but after the “big scandal” they had been obliged to take such a step.

According to the witness, the post generated many complaints, and more information was sought to assess the situation. He said the complaints were passed to the police in 2024.

On the subject of minutes, Koptides said he was the one who recorded them and that Isaias reviewed them.

Questioned about archimandrite Varnavas, the witness said he knew him but did not agree that he had stayed at the monastery as a guest for a year. He explained that Varnavas was a monk there.