UOC cleric: Met. Simeon becomes a party to a fraudulent scheme
The deed of gift, which Metropolitan Simeon formalized to his own name, may become evidence in a criminal case of fraud, Prot. Gennady Shkil believes.
The deal, which Metropolitan Simeon (Shostatsky), banned by the Holy Synod of the UOC, concluded with himself has signs of a criminal offense, Protopriest Gennady Shkil wrote on Facebook.
According to the clergyman, at the time of signing the deed of gift, Metropolitan Simeon no longer had the right to sign any documents on behalf of the administration of the Vinnitsa eparchy.
“The property right of the administration of the Vinnitsa eparchy of the UOC to the administration buildings was eliminated at 17:11:56 on December 17, 2017. At 17:11:56!!! And the report that Shostatsky was released from the administration of the eparchy and a new manager was appointed was published on the official website of the UOC at 13:55 on December 17, 2017,” Protopriest Gennady explained.
He is confident that the act of Metropolitan Simeon "even looks like a criminal offense – fraud, the production of forged documents."
The priest noted that the claim of the metropolitan banned from ministry to reinstate him in his position is also not legitimate since it contradicts the decision of the ECHR of September 14, 2017 No. 56665/09 (Nagy v. Hungary), which considered a similar case in the Reformed Church of Hungary.
The media reported that Metropolitan Simeon “presented” to himself the property complex of the Vinnitsa eparchial administration on the same day when the Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church banned him from ministry for participating in the “Unification Council”.
Later, Metropolitan Simeon (Shostatsky) appealed to the Vinnitsa City Court with a lawsuit, which he called his "step to protect human dignity and honour".
