theft - Orthodox Christian Laity

Patriarch Bartholomew Fires Grand Archimandrite Agathangelos

By Webmaster on April 28, 2023 Governance & Unity News, Governance Top Stories

Source: The National Herald By Theodore Kalmoukos BOSTON – His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew fired Grand Archimandrite Agathangelos Siskos after the article of The National Herald on April 21 that revealed that, “on April 17 Turkish authorities arrested the Grand Archimandrite of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Agathangelos Siskos, for the theft of a pocket watch of great value. He was sent to jail, from which he was however released with the intervention of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew’s police guard. Patriarch Bartholomew has placed him on indefinite suspension. Phanar sources told The National Herald that the Patriarch is very concerned and saddened by…

Judge to priest who stole $100K from church: You abused position of trust

By Webmaster on February 22, 2017 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories, Uncategorized

Source: The Chicago Tribune by Tony Briscoe and Kate ThayerContact ReportersChicago Tribune A Greek Orthodox priest from Chicago who pleaded guilty to stealing more than $100,000 from his church had his felony theft conviction reduced to a misdemeanor Wednesday. A judge in Milwaukee agreed to instate the lesser conviction after the Rev. James Dokos satisfied the terms of his yearlong probation, including 40 hours of community service, which he fulfilled by volunteering in a Chicago church. Dokos, 64, will continue to avoid jail time if he pays a $5,000 fine within the next year, officials said. While leading Annunciation Church in…

Handling of priest’s theft did real harm to Greek Orthodox Church

By Webmaster on February 23, 2016 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: Chicago Tribune By John Kass, Contact Reporter If you stole $100,000 from a church, a reasonable person would expect that you’d get some jail time for your crimes. If a poor kid was charged with stealing a fraction of that much cash from a sandwich shop, chances are that jail would be waiting. But a Wisconsin priest stealing from a church trust, a priest with a fondness for luxury goods and fine restaurants, a priest with a powerful ally in the Chicago Greek Orthodox church hierarchy? Well, that’s a different story, because that’s no poor kid. That’s a holy man with…

Plea deal in works for Greek Orthodox priest charged with theft

By Webmaster on February 10, 2016 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: Chicago Tribune by John Keilman Chicago Tribune A Greek Orthodox priest charged with stealing more than $110,000 from a church trust fund has reached a tentative plea deal with prosecutors, authorities said Wednesday. The Rev. James Dokos, who lives in Chicago, is accused of taking the money from a $1.2 million fund he controlled at Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Milwaukee and spending it on himself, family members and other church officials. The Milwaukee County district attorney’s office charged Dokos with theft in 2014, two years after he had left Annunciation to become head of Sts. Peter and Paul Greek…

Judge Slaps Down Priest Charged With Theft

By Webmaster on February 6, 2015 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: Urban Milwaukee Priest at famed Greek church claimed freedom of religion protected him from prosecution. By Michael Zahn Father James Dokos Jr., accused of stealing more than $100,000 from a trust fund, offered an unusual defense: that he was protected by the constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion — an argument made by his trio of lawyers, including high-profile attorney Frank Gimbel. Sorry, said Circuit Judge M. Joseph Donald in a ruling yesterday: “The United States Supreme Court has previously observed that no person may ‘under the cloak of religion . . . commit frauds upon the public.’” So…

Priest appears at hearing on theft charge, bond set

By Webmaster on July 18, 2014 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: Chicago Tribune By Alexandra Chachkevitch, Tribune reporter A Glenview Greek Orthodox priest who faces a felony theft charge made his first court appearance this afternoon after missing two previously scheduled hearings. The Rev. James Dokos, 62, stood before a court commissioner in a Milwaukee County courtroom during the brief hearing, where his bond was set at $5,000. Because it’s a personal recognizance bond, he was not required to post any money to be released. Wearing a black suit with a clerical collar and smiling as he entered the courtroom, Dokos did not speak during the hearing, and no mention was…

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