Cypriot archbishop says he met Jho Low once, ‘very briefly’

 

Cypriot Archbishop Chrysostomos says he met Jho Low over a 300,000 euro donation. (File pic)

PETALING JAYA: An archbishop who heads the Orthodox Church in Cyprus said he only met Low Taek Jho or Jho Low “briefly and only once” after the fugitive financier was granted Cypriot citizenship six years ago.

However, Archbishop Chrysostomos said he was unaware that Low – who is at the centre of the 1MDB scandal – was being investigated for financial crimes, Cyprus Mail reported.

“I met Mr Low. He wanted to make a donation but I initially declined. He insisted,” the prelate was quoted by the English language daily.

Chrysostomos said this when testifying before a panel investigating Cyprus’ now-defunct citizenship-by-investment (CBI) scheme.

He went on to reveal that he thanked Low for the donation – which came to a total of €300,000 – and said it would go to the Theological School.

When questioned as to how he became entangled in the Low affair, Chrysostomos said it was because the villa that Low had purchased as an investment was built on church land.

And as the developer did not have the money for the title deed, he signed as a guarantor for the archbishopric himself.

The developer who sold the villa to Low then asked Chrysostomos to send a note to the interior minister to expedite Low’s case for a passport. The letter was dated Sept 1, 2015.

“If the passport came out quickly, we would also get our money,” Cyprus Mail quoted Chrysostomos as saying.

He also admitted that he never looked into Low’s background as he had no authority to do so. Chrysostomos later learnt of Low’s scandal.

“It was then that I learned that he had received a (Cypriot) passport. What I had done, is send one letter, and that was it.”

In 2019, Chrysostomos denied a news report claiming that Low obtained a Cypriot passport in 2015 with his help.

The Cyprus Orthodox Church subsequently said it would return the donation. - FMT