ATHENS (Reuters) – Greek authorities have frozen the bank accounts and assets of five cafe and nightclub owners on suspicion of laundering Catholic church money supplied by two church officials, a senior Greek official and local media said on Thursday.
During a months-long investigation, the country’s anti-money-laundering authority found that more than 3 million euros ($3.24 million) were directed from the funds of the Catholic Church in Greece to five bank accounts, a source with knowledge of the probe told Reuters.
The authority’s findings have been forwarded to a prosecutor who is expected to open its own investigation, the Athens News Agency said. The two church officials are suspected of embezzlement and the most recent suspicious money transfer was a few days ago, it said.
The businessmen are active in the southern Peloponnese area.
The Holy Synod of the Catholic Church of Greece said in a statement on Thursday that it has not been officially informed about the issue by Greek authorities and will comment on the case once it is informed.
($1 = 0.9257 euros)
(Reporting by Yannis Souliotis and Renee Maltezou; Editing by Ros Russell)
