The Supreme Court discussed the appeal that has been filed against the ruling which referred fourteen people to trial over the Vatopedi scandal, which includes Abbot Ephraim, Monk Arsenios and the former Minister Giorgos Voulgarakis’ wife and notary Katerina Peleki, his father in-law and lawyer Dionisis Pelekis and brother-in-law and lawyer Dimitris Pelekis.
The appeal was filed by the Supreme Court prosecutor Giorgos Borodimos, who claims that the ruling of the Felony Appeals Court handling the case contains contradictions, omissions and other errors. According to Mr. Borodimos, these omissions and mistakes mean that charges cannot be brought against the suspects, since the government –at the time- was favoring the controversial real estate trade. The court has not issued a decision.
The Vatopedi scandal became public in September 2008, when it was revealed that the eponymous monastery in Mount Athos was implicated in a real estate scam which is estimated to have cost the Greek state about 100 million euros. The scandal is thought to have contributed to the collapse of Konstantinos Karamanlis’ government in 2009.
