A hierarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the U.S. has been accused of forging documents to obtain the rank of bishop

U.S. law enforcement agencies and federal departments, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE/HSI), have received an official complaint regarding serious legal and ethical violations by the leadership of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the U.S. (Constantinople Patriarchate). According to the author of the complaint, the allegations center on the systematic falsification of personal data and forgery of documents by a high-ranking church official known as Archbishop Daniel Zelinsky.

According to the information provided indicates that the archbishop changed his last name from “Suslik” to “Zelinsky” and also altered his year of birth from 1976 to 1972. The complainant asserts that the hierarch’s original name is Vladimir Olegovich Suslik. The complaint places particular emphasis on the “biological impossibility” of a 1972 birth date, since the individual’s parents were not married until 1975.

The complaint emphasizes that such tampering with documents may have been carried out to artificially meet the canonical age requirement (a minimum of 35 years) for ordination as a bishop in May 2008, whereas, according to the complainant, the candidate’s actual age was only 31 or 32.

At this time, the case has been referred to federal authorities for a thorough investigation into possible immigration fraud. Representatives of the church community are urging believers to demand transparency from the organization’s leadership and are asking anyone with additional information to assist with the investigation.