May 16, 2018
NEW YORK – In order to promote transparency and accountability, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America has posted, on its website, the results of Phase I of the PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory Services LLC (“PwC”) investigative report (“Report”) regarding the rebuilding of Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine.
Yesterday, BakerHostetler, counsel to the Special Investigative Committee that was authorized by the Archdiocese to conduct an independent review of the St. Nicholas project (the “SIC”), released the Report to the SIC, which, in turn, has forwarded the Report to the Archdiocese. The full text of the PwC report can be found by clicking here. A brief summary of findings, based on BakerHostetler’s review of the Report, is also available at at this link.
According to the Report, PwC was able to confirm that all expenditures charged to St. Nicholas funds were, in fact, used for St. Nicholas-related purposes and met donor restrictions. The PwC Report did indicate that the Archdiocese owes St. Nicholas the sum of $3,504,550 that the Archdiocese used for either general Archdiocesan expenditures or for St. Nicholas related expenditures (such as fundraising) that it voluntarily decided not to charge to St. Nicholas. On May 2, the Archdiocese returned $1,000,000 to the fund, reducing the balance owed by the Archdiocese to the St. Nicholas fund, to $2,504,550 plus interest.
Phase II of the Report will discuss procedures and observations regarding the baseline costs of the St. Nicholas Shrine; the causes of cost increases and design changes to the Shrine; and undisclosed relationships, if any, between the Shrine’s project management and vendors paid from St. Nicholas funds. The findings of Phase II are expected in the coming weeks and will also be made available to the faithful.
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