The deputy secretary of state to the prime minister and former mayor of Caminha, Miguel Alves, who is under investigation by the prosecution, said today that he was silent because he addressed the first statements to the Office of the Attorney General (PGR).
In an interview with Jornal de Notícias and TSF, Miguel Alves, who is under investigation over a promissory note contract he signed when he was mayor of Caminha, proved sure of the legality of the process and explained why it was not publicly spoken. . about this controversy earlier.
“And my first comment was not here, it was with the PGR, through a letter, where I added my availability to provide my clarification at any time on the investigation that was opened about this situation. I can understand my option, a legal , transparent option that defends the public interest in Caminha and also in the country,” said Miguel Alves.
At stake is the construction of a cross-border exhibition center in Caminha, in the Viana do Castelo district, a work that has not yet started after the preliminary contract between the promoter and the municipality was signed in 2020.
Público reported in the October 26 edition that: the municipality of Caminha has made a “dubious advance” of 300,000 euros for the project in question, authorized by the now deputy secretary of state to the prime minister, when he led that municipality.
The newspaper reported that the payment was made by the municipality in March 2021 to an unknown company and affiliated with businessman Ricardo Moutinho, an investor with an alleged falsified resume.
The weekly Expresso also reported in its October 28 issue that the company in question, Green Endogenous, SA, is part of an investment group “established locally”.
Faced with this news, Miguel Alves recalled that the promoter had already invested 600 thousand euros in the municipality, pointed out that he “presented documents demonstrating work in other municipalities and in other companies”, and that “trust and good faith were strengthened by the attitude and behavior”, in which he describes receiving Ricardo Moutinho “dozens of times” for meetings with technicians, councilors, architects and financial managers.
“The promoter has already invested 600 thousand euros in Caminha, according to the news that has come to the public, he has already bought 33 plots of land, he is investing. At the moment, the advance of 300 thousand euros has already been returned directly to the community itself … that two years later there is nothing. There is. Is there any built work? No. But the built does not exist because the city council took too long initially. And why did it take too long “Because the mayor, that was me, the services did not leads,” he said.
Miguel Alves recalled that the project in question did not have to be submitted to the City Council, which happened on his own initiative, and emphasized that the businessman, as well as the professor at the Coimbra Faculty of Law and a member of the Council of Justice, were present at that session. , Licínio Lopes, who signed an opinion on the process, and Marcelo Delgado, currently president of the Association of Technicians of Local Governments.
When asked if he would make the same decisions again, the prime minister’s deputy secretary of state said that “if he could go back” he would have approved the prior information request “earlier and the work might be built,” but he did. not because he “did not want to influence the services of the Chamber”.
Miguel Alves also believed that “this case exists” because he is the Secretary of State for António Costa, because “there is a certain prejudice against those who work outside that natural court” and also because and there is “a certain prejudice with Caminha” .
“As if Caminha didn’t deserve a cross-border exhibition center, as if Caminha didn’t have enough prestige to have a science and technology center,” he said.
On Wednesday, Caminha’s current mayor, Rui Lages, announced that the developer is available to make a down payment or take out a mortgage to complete the project elsewhere.
On October 31, the prime minister said in statements to journalists that he maintained political confidence in Miguel Alves.
Source: DN
