By Nick Stamatakis
In a press statement given first to Helleniscope for immediate release, former GOA Executive Director Jerry Dimitriou expresses his dismay at the apparent attempt by the Archdiocese through a statement issued immediately after the Court sentencing order for Mr. Dimitriou, on August 3rd (link here for GOA statement). The “joyous” title of this announcement by GOA, “Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America Announces Guilty Plea and Sentencing of Former Executive Director Jerry Dimitriou” and the specific expressions within it that GOA “cooperated with the authorities” regarding the “unfathomable betrayal of trust by these two employees,” prove that GOA attempts a PR campaign: a) to put an end to the scandal and to avoid the apparent felonies/guilt of others (most notoriously of Karloutsos and family) and b) to “scapegoat” Jerry Dimitriou and G.Papadakos loading them with all the blame, while the main trespassers pretend they had nothing to do with it.
Notorious “theologian” Th. Kalmoukos and the “National Herald” – who have NEVER IN 45 YEARS spelled one word of even slight criticism against Karloutsos and his crime family (the crime family the whole country has now associated with good reason and plenty of proof with the Biden crime family) – for their own reasons (mainly to protect Karloutsos) were singing along the same scapegoating “tune.” But on Friday night, Jerry Dimitriou’s lawyers forced them to correct their earlier wrong statements. And to recognize that the early “embezzlement charges” against Mr.Dimitriou were dropped (link here – go to the end for J. Dimitriou’s lawyers’ statement).
This morning, we received with priority the following press statement from Jerry Dimitriou. We hope to have more information and answers to our many questions in the next few days.
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JERRY DIMITRIOU’S STATEMENT
August 5, 2023 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Regarding the recent developments in the case of Jerry Dimitriou, it is important to address the misleading statements presented by The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and the Greek Press. In the fall of 2022, Mr. Dimitriou pled guilty to failure to pay $17,833.32 in personal taxes, and on August 2, 2023, he received a sentence of probation and 4 months of home detention for such failure.
However, it is crucial to clarify that the original charges made against Mr. Dimitriou were dropped by the Federal Prosecutors, a fact conveniently omitted in the Archdiocese’s press release and the Greek Press coverage. Instead, they have chosen to focus on unrelated losses paid by an insurance company to the Archdiocese, which have no relevance to Mr. Dimitriou’s plea and sentencing.
In doing so, the Archdiocese and the Greek Press have failed to accurately report the facts surrounding Mr. Dimitriou’s sentencing, perpetuating inaccuracies and defamatory statements about his character and his 27 years of dedicated service to The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America under the administrations of three Archbishops.
It is essential to seek transparency and truthfulness in reporting such cases, as misrepresentations can lead to misunderstandings and damage the reputations of individuals involved. The public deserves accurate information to form informed opinions, and it is imperative that the media and organizations take responsibility for presenting the facts objectively and responsibly.
END OF J.DIMITRIOU’S STATEMENT
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We hope to follow up soon with more clarifications and answers from Jerry Dimitriou.
Stay tuned!
August 5, 2023, n.stamatakis@aol.com www.helleniscope.com
DISCLAIMER: The views and statements expressed in this article constitute constitutionally protected opinions of this author.
In the old village, they say…”when you hang out with snakes, don’t be surprised if eventually one of them bites you”…Mr. Dimitriou knew the company he was in all along.
And while this outcome may appear convenient to some, this story is like the story of a “fly buzzing around a banquet”… do we focus on the fly, or the banquet? Serious historians will one day write about “other more important matters”, such as analyzing the dark details of the following “Hollywood script”:
1) “who was hanging out at the State Department on a hot summer day in 2018…”
https://www.goarch.org/news/releases/2018/-/asset_publisher/7NCuYdJYMvgG/content/archbishop-demetrios-holds-memorial-service-for-the-fire-victims-in-greece/pop_up?_101_INSTANCE_7NCuYdJYMvgG_viewMode=print&_101_INSTANCE_7NCuYdJYMvgG_languageId=el_GR
2) “what reversal of almost 27 years of consistent Ecumenical Patriarchate policy on the Ukrainian Schismatics occurred shortly after that D.C. visit?…(time elapsed: between July and October)”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autocephaly_of_the_Orthodox_Church_of_Ukraine
Pay special attention to these two paragraphs:
The UAOC and the UOC-KP were not recognized by other Orthodox churches and were considered schismatic.[14] ROC officials stated that the anathematization of Filaret was “recognized by all the Local Orthodox Churches including the Church of Constantinople”.[7][8][15][16] The synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate did indeed recognize, in a July 1992 letter to Patriarch Alexy II, the defrocking of Filaret by the ROC,[9][17][18] and the Ecumenical Patriarch recognized the anathemization of Filaret in a letter of April 1997 to Patriarch Alexy II.[19][20][21]
On 11 October 2018, the excommunications of the UAOC and the UOC-KP were lifted by the Ecumenical Patriarchate,[22] however the Ecumenical Patriarchate recognized neither the UAOC nor the UOC-KP as legitimate and their leaders were not recognized as primates of their respective churches.[23][24] As of 15 December 2018, the UAOC and the UOC-KP do not exist anymore and have merged with two metropolitans of the UOC-MP to form the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. The UOC-MP still exists. The UOC-MP has 12,064 active parishes, the UOC-KP had 4,807, and the UAOC had 1,048.[25]
3) “how much money did Poroshenko “send” to Constantinople as “part of the agreement” for dozens of bishops & clergy to be recognized and granted autonomy overnight” ? (reminder that if any money was exchanged as an incentive or transaction for “tonsure”, that could constitute “Simony”, which is not allowed by the Canons, and could likely present a quick Canonical basis [among other things] for rejecting the validity of the entire Tomos of autocephaly at a future “real” Great Synod)
https://www.rferl.org/a/poroshenko-patriarch-bartholomew-sign-cooperation-agreement/29580756.html
https://strategic-culture.org/news/2018/11/17/whose-money-stoked-religious-strife-ukraine-who-tried-steal-it/
4) Who was formally invited about a year after the first State Department meeting (after the decision was announced to grant autocephaly to the Ukrainians):
https://www.ekathimerini.com/news/238135/ecumenical-patriarch-to-visit-the-us-in-july/
5) The rest of the tragedy of the Ukraine, including unexplained “silence” on the part of GOA and the EP on the Kiev Caves religious persecution, doesn’t need specific references at this point…
So, after the Jerry Dimitriou “buzzing fly” case, in light of “the larger banquet” unfolding before our eyes, can the faithful really believe any claims by the Archdiocese that corruption and unworthiness in the ecclesiastical organization has been “decisively squashed”?
Woo hoo! Thank you for posting all these links. Cannot wait to read them.
Finally we will learn what really happened. I wonder how many metropolitans, bishops, priests, Goa employees are preparing themselves for an IRS audit. If Mr. Dimitirou went through this for 17,000 what will their outcome be for all the undeclared envelopes, high price gifts, weddings and baptisms against the canons of the church up for grabs to the highest bidder. I look forward to additional information.
Karloutsos, he may have a medal but there is no doubt his handouts and those of his family must have undeclared income could reach a million or more.
Are the Archons concerned since they travel in everyone’s dime. Wake up time!
What a shame. I’ve known Jerry D for 40 years. I’ve witnessed his dedication to the GOA the entire time. Even after they “threw him under bus”, he continued to help in every way, at multiple churches.
He always kept his faith, inherently feeling he was not only looking out for the best interests of the “Church”, but the best interests of our Lord.
Jerry was the GOA’s scapegoat for their own scrupleless acts. Shameful.
Years ago there was an advertisement by
someone named Jerry and at the end of
the advertisement he was saying :” That’s
the story Jerry….”. This is exactly the same story , so much time so much money and
so much ink for nothing.
The black robe mafia is so powerful , is getting all it’s power by getting fuel all the
time fro the King of darkness , unfortunately
the resistance is very tiny and my only hope
is the Creator of Cosmos my God and I believe that someday is going to set up
everything in order, the time is not too far
anymore it is very close.
From Lilikas beach ( Chios) with God’s love
The captain
There is HOPE– There are consistent Priests who consistently do the right thing! In my 7 Decades, I have always (in my Church Attendance) seen our Priest take only the 40 Day Male Children in back of the Altar.
That said, this past Spring, on a mini-vaca out on eastern Long island, I saw the priest take the female child out in back of altar- no male child was in priest’s arms- (my priest consistently hands the little 40 day old girls in front of altar to awaiting mother, while he proceeds to take a male child to the back of altar.. Captain- there are true Orthodox Christian priests, who do not practice ecumenism –they are true believers !
Larissa,
There was a separate response to a question you asked in another thread on the topic of the 40 day blessing and entry into the altar…you may want to take a look, because the history on this might be surprising to you:
https://www.helleniscope.com/2023/06/18/the-whole-truth-about-the-deaconesses-in-orthodoxy/
I learned a long time ago to be a loner than to hang out with bad people. I hang out with patriots whether Greek or American, God fearing Christians(Protestant, Catholic, or Orthodox).
The Karloutsos Crime family must be held be accountable.
Our Greek Othodox Church leadership is corrupt to the core just like the Catholics, and Protestants. Grassroots Christians in Catholic church are trying to clean out/expose the Fake priests/Globalist Pope Francis. Leo Zagami and other Catholics Priests are taking harsh stances. The same with Protestant Christian Pastors who are standing with President Trump, against Covid BS measures, and battling Satanic TRansgenderism, etc. Where is our brave Greek Orthodox Priests to stand up!!! Why are you silent?
Spartacus are you referring to the Catholic Archbishop Vigano?
He’s a true hero and stands up to the corrupt Vatican – really you said it: all these religious institutions suffer corruption but at least we’ve got some faithful warriors and it empowers us to fight the good fight – to hold fast our sword of truth.
“The plans of the globalist elite, which are inherently evil, and because they’re moved by the Adversary’s hatred of Christ – modern
man is in no way different from the one that marked the fall of Adam & Eve: believing the lie, in subverting the divine order; we have been deceived by a new lie – by eating the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil has no consequences”.
— AB Vigano
Let’s review: the expectation here all along was that Jerry would flip and take down Karloutsos as the presumed mastermind of all criminal actions at the archdiocese. That didn’t happen. Jerry paid back the money and taxes and, with good lawyers, then helped the US Atty settle this without a trial , but with the “win” of a guilty plea. Case closed.
Political influence from Bidenopoulos? Maybe, why not? L’ Affair Hunter shows the extent to which federal prosecutors are corrupted by the WH which, after all, is indebted to Karloutsos for raising the legal defense fund money that kept Joe’s good friend Bob Menendez out of jail again and allowed him to remain as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee (which is how you get a buffoon confirmed by that committee as US Ambassador to Greece and how you get the Medal of Freedom).
Jerry now asserts that the GOA’s trying to distance itself from him is misleading and he’s probably right. But then again, Jerry made decisions during all of his career to lie down with dogs, so he shouldn’t be surprised that he got fleas and was thrown under the bus. He should embrace it.
Thus, successful, the worldwide Turkish-led criminal enterprise can now return to its usual activities with a smile on its collective face and Karloutsos can only hope to help negotiate a similar slap-on-the-hand for the considerable civil lawsuit problems his son Michael faces. All it takes is money, after all, and Bidenopoulos.