One of the 24 charges of money laundering and defrauding faced by the two accused Avakoum monastery monks, Nektarios and Porfyrios, was amended on Tuesday at the Nicosia criminal court at the request of the prosecution.

The amendment reduces the value of the property illegally possessed by €133,000.

The charge against Nektarios of theft from a representative was dropped at the request of the defence.
A 25th charge was then added at the request of the prosecution for theft from a representative.

The two monks appeared before the court on Tuesday, where prosecutor Elena Sofokleous requested the amendment of charge 16 regarding the illegal possession of property valued at €196,000, which has now been reduced to €63,568.82.

After the proceedings, defence lawyer Efstathios Efstathiou told reporters that this was the most serious of charges.

He added that the monks were “innocent and this is what will be proved at the hearing of the current case”.

The next hearing will be held on April 10 at 9am, when the monks will answer to the charges.

The suspects will remain free.

The Holy Synod had already ruled in favour of upholding the disgraced monks’ defrocking, but they are also facing criminal charges.

Charges brought to the religious court and listed in its latest ruling, include lewdness, “sodomy, impurity, and cohabitation”, posting and distributing indecent photos, “acts of solicitation”, fraud and misleading believers with false miracles.

According to the verdict, Nektarios, the apparent ringleader of the whole ignominious affair, went so far as to pretend that Saint Avakoum had taken over his body, faking his voice, and also faked fainting after “exorcisms” – all to extort money from believers.