The head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Catholicos Garegin II, has been profiled in a project published by The IJIC (International Consortium of Investigative Journalists) looking into 60,000 leaked files providing details on over 100,000 HSBC clients and their bank accounts.

The HSBC files were obtained through an international collaboration of news outlets, including the Guardian, Le Monde, BBC Panorama and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists reveal that HSBC’s Swiss private bank:

The Guardian writes:

HSBC’s Swiss banking arm helped wealthy customers dodge taxes and conceal millions of dollars of assets, doling out bundles of untraceable cash and advising clients on how to circumvent domestic tax authorities, according to a huge cache of leaked secret bank account files.

The HSBC files, which cover the period 2005-2007, amount to the biggest banking leak in history, shedding light on some 30,000 accounts holding almost $120bn (£78bn) of assets.

Here’s the profile of Catholicos Garegin that has appeared in the IJIC website: 

His Holiness Karekin II

Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians

Born Ktrij Nersessian, he was enthroned in 1999 as the 132nd Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos (meaning “universal leader”) of Echmiadzin, the holy seat of the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church. He has traveled the world visiting the Armenian diaspora and promoting inter-faith dialogue. His travels have taken him to places including Vatican City, the United States, India and Turkey, milestones of his pontifical visits.

File details

HSBC internal files first listed Karekin II among its clients in 2000. He was connected to an account named “His Holiness Karekin II Nersis” that listed one bank account and held as much as $1.1 million in 2006/2007. The leaked files do not specify the exact role that Karekin II had in relation to the account.

Comment

A spokesman told ICIJ that the account in question was opened by His Holiness Karekin II's predecessor "for the benefit of the Church and its charities. This account was transferred to His Holiness Karekin II Nersissian upon the death of his predecessor to be used for the same purposes. The Catholicosate –the area of responsibility of the Catholicos- of the Armenian church is a national religious institution and is not subject to any taxes" and that His Holiness "has immunity from any taxes."