BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — A former priest has been accused of stealing around $450,000 from a Hellenic Orthodox Church of the Annunciation in Buffalo, the United States Attorney’s Office said Tuesday.
Christos Christakis, 57, has been charged with bank fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
Officials allege that Christakis inserted a provision into the church’s bylaws in 2011, giving himself control over the church’s Priest Discretionary Fund, which is intended to allow the priest to provide small direct payments to those in need. Following a whistleblower complaint in 2025, officials say Christakis admitted in an archdiocese investigation to using parish funds for his own benefit from 2018 to 2025…