Following the information made public last week regarding the management of IdD Portugal Defense SA, the Minister of National Defense addressed today [quarta-feira] a letter to the President of the Court requesting that a financial audit of that company be included in the Court’s inspection plan.” MDN).
The request comes after Marco Capitão Ferreira, former Secretary of State for Defense, was made arguido on July 7 in the context of the Perfect Storm operation. is suspected of the crimes of corruption and economic participation. On that day he resigned from the government, with the Prime Minister presenting his resignation to the President of the Republic, who confirmed it in a decree on the 10th Monday. The now former Secretary of State was chairman of the board of directors of the holding company IdD Portugal Defense (responsible for managing the portfolio of state stocks in the defense industry) between 2020 and 2022 and a director of OGMA SA between 2021 and 2022, and was still chairman of the board of directors of Extra, SA
Follow the caseMarco Capitão Ferreira was summoned to clarify in the defense commission, but he refused, saying it is up to him to answer in court. Now the ministry under the supervision of Helena Carreiras says that, in addition to the request for an audit sent to the Court of Auditors, “in 2022 there was a strengthening of the action of the General Inspectorate of National Defense to carry out audits and other actions in the services and bodies of the MDN and defense companies” and that “inspection actions have already been carried out or are ongoing in the field of heritage, public works contracts and public contracts”. Added to this are “actions aimed at risk management and prevention of risks of corruption and related crimes in the services and bodies of the Ministry of National Defense, including entities integrated in the State Enterprise Sector”, such as IdD Portugal Defense, the Arsenal do Alfeite, Naval Rocha, OGMA or Extra. In the same note, the ministry also mentions that, despite not being published on the company’s website, IdD’s 2021 and 2022 accounts will be approved at the General Assembly on September 6. This after going through other phases, such as issuing a recommendation from the company’s Supervisory Board and legal certification by the statutory auditor.
The idea of auditing the company’s accounts has already been supported by the President of the Republic, this week, who advocated conducting this inspection in the name of transparency.
The note released by the MDN on Wednesday also detailed that the Defense Inspectorate General “has been conducting or conducting actions during this administration, related to matters and areas considered to be of greater risk,” such as audits at the “evaluation of the inventory process of real estate assets allocated to Defense”.
Joint hearing passed unanimously
After the whole thing, the PSD and Chega filed requests to hear the Minister of National Defense, Helena Carreiras, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs (and former Defense Minister), João Gomes Cravinho.
The hearing was approved unanimously, at this Wednesday’s meeting of the parliamentary defense committee. Despite the approval, no date had been set to hear the two leaders – I was sure of that this will not happen until the next legislature, which starts in September.
At the hearing, the two ministers will be heard together, on the proposal of the Socialist Party. Socialist deputy Francisco César pointed out that the hearing should be joint because it is about the same case and the same ministry, which also facilitates the chronological order of events. “We think it’s better for public clarification and we don’t have to wait for another hearing and another minister”, he justified. The aim is that the matter is “duly clarified,” said the deputy. As for the PSD, Jorge Paulo Oliveira understood that the doubts remain and must be clarified. The Chega, by the voice of Pedro Pessanha, regretting the absence of the former secretary of state in parliament and deeming it “necessary” for the minister to clarify the matter “thoroughly”, Rodrigo Saraiva, of the Liberal Initiative, also said there was “a lot” to explain. finally, Pedro Filipe Soares, parliamentary leader of the Bloc de Esquerda, stated that PSD and Chega anticipated the request to hear Gomes Cravinho and Helena Carreira, that there are suspicions – valid or not – and that it is therefore “pertinent” to to hear the two rulers.
Source: DN
