The threshold of Evelpidon courts was crossed Wednesday morning by the woman allegedly leading the drug trafficking ring, the suspected second-in-command, and another member. All face serious charges for participating in an organized drug trafficking network, where the “fake priest YouTuber” played a central role.
In his testimony, the alleged leader of the second branch of the case – related to drug cultivation in a region of the country – denied any involvement. He claimed to be a simple drug user with no connection to the network.
One day earlier, two clergy members had given their testimonies – including the clergyman known as the “fake priest YouTuber” –, his 40-year-old associate, and an Albanian couple. All four were ordered into pretrial detention after marathon testimonies and were led to prison.
Code names used by the drug trafficking network
“Traditional cake” was the network’s code for raw cannabis, “candle” for cocaine, “coffee” for hashish, “pasta and bread” for cannabis. Drugs that, apparently, were hidden in the fake priest YouTuber’s makeshift church.
No one could suspect that large quantities of drugs existed inside the small chapel, which for some inexplicable reason had cameras everywhere.
And it’s not just the cameras. The clergyman had revealed in one of his dozens of television appearances that he was constantly under attack and had been forced to pay 70 euros per day for a guard. He had even installed motion detectors.
Ordained deacon but defrocked
The clergyman is revealed to have been neither a church father nor an Old Calendarist. According to Live News sources, in 2001 he was ordained deacon under orders from the Patriarchate of Alexandria, however, in 2002 he was defrocked by the official Church.
He claims that in 2004 he was elected Bishop by the Holy Synod of Old Calendarists and from 2005-2015 operated and performed sacraments in a private chapel in Nikaia.
In 2014 he claims to have been enthroned as Archbishop by the Old Calendarists and in 2020 began building the “church” on Liosion Street.
However, the clergyman appears to have impersonated priests very well, despite not being one. He wore stoles, gold crosses, carried staffs and conducted regular services. “He ordained himself. One morning he woke up and told us ‘I am Archbishop of Athens and all Greece’. We had to hold back our laughter,” witnesses say.
He even performed baptisms as captured in photographs from July 2020. “Since he called himself a bishop. ‘I am a bishop’ he would say.”
He performed blessing ceremonies at kindergartens, deceiving them that he was supposedly a cleric. “We didn’t know he wasn’t even a priest. We didn’t have that impression. He performed sacraments, he performed baptisms. There was a page which he took down several months ago. He uploaded everything there. Last Easter he brought the Holy Fire with Greek police escort.”
Acting like a metropolitan during Holy Fire arrival with fake plates
The image speaks for itself. The 46-year-old arrives in a luxury car. His 40-year-old associate along with another clergyman open the door for him and he, dressed in stole and crosses, acts as if he’s a metropolitan.
“Not just once. When he brought out the epitaph, the Police on Liosion Street had arranged… arranged for the epitaph procession to pass. I don’t know how he managed it. People even came from the Navy.”
Moreover, as the show reveals, the Holy Fire transport was conducted with police escort while the luxury car carrying the fake priest had fake license plates.
The mystery of Saint Parthenios’ relics
At the same time, videos available online show the clergyman staged a ceremony for receiving supposedly holy relics at the fake temple on Liosion Street.
As Live News reveals, parts of the authentic holy relics of Saint Parthenios are located at the Holy Monastery of Esphigmenou on Mount Athos, at the Holy Monastery of Makrymalli in Psachna, Evia, and at the Holy Monastery of Saint Nicholas in Andros where a fragment of the right hand is kept.
The abbot of Saint Nicholas Monastery in Andros tells Live News:
-And in Chalkida there is and at Agathos monastery there is and on Mount Athos there is and at Esphigmenou there is and in various places there are relics of the Saint. I had published the book of Saint Parthenios, many years ago of course. We also have a part of Saint Parthenios’ right hand, it’s published in the book. Not the whole hand, a fragment. They are fragments of the saint’s relics and inside a silver case, which is like a blessing hand, holy. And it’s like a small hand, it’s not the whole hand. I don’t know who this person is and what he’s doing, my child.
-Do you have a fragment at the monastery?
-Of the Saint’s hand, and it’s kept in a case here. Fraudsters, my child, unfortunately roam around and corrupt everything and scandalize people.
The philharmonic band brought by the fake priest
For the ceremony receiving the supposedly holy relics, he had even brought a philharmonic band to the temple.
“Every Easter throughout Holy Week he portrayed Christ. He did Passion reenactments. He dressed as Christ, let his hair down. He carried the cross, the wooden cross that is, he did the whole reenactment.”
According to sources, the clergyman rented bands to satisfy his megalomania.
In his television appearances he presented himself as Archbishop of Love, without clarifying that he had been defrocked by the official church and didn’t belong to the Old Calendarists either.
“They had their own scheme. They had found a legal loophole and thus had become ‘Old Calendarists’ on their own.”
The fake church of the 46-year-old clergyman – What the icon maker says
From prayer ropes, honey and Turkish delights to wine with his face on the label, he had created everything. As for the building and plot, the 46-year-old clergyman claimed, according to complaints:
“From what he told me, the plot and building were his and he dedicated them for the church, to build the church there. This building is very old. I knew it belonged to the railway company. He told me ‘no, it’s not the railway company’s. It’s mine and I dedicated it. I’m from a wealthy family.'”
Meanwhile, Live News spoke to the owner of an icon-making workshop, who is the person who made the icons for the fake church on Liosion Street free of charge.
“He asked me if I could make some icons for him to sell to help his work of cooking for people. We saw that he indeed cooked and started making icons. He gave us some money in advance, I saw he was struggling and told him I’d do them for free. Then he took us to the church he was building, all the icons there are ours. He doesn’t owe me money because I didn’t ask for it. My father had died of cancer and he had mentioned cancer patients to me. He presented my icon as if it were 200 years old.”
The 46-year-old clergyman is now in pretrial detention as involved in the criminal organization that trafficked drugs and migrants.
