The case that sparked searches at the Urban Planning Department of the Lisbon Chamber on Tuesday “has no composite defendants” and is subject to judicial secrecy, the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) told Lusa on Thursday.
In response to inquiries from the Lusa agency, the PGR only confirmed “carrying out searches as part of an investigation under the terms of the DIAP [Departamento de Investigação e Ação Penal] of Lisbon and which is subject to legal secrecy”.
“Same has no compound arguidos,” adds in the written response to Lusa.
TVI/CNN Portugal reported on Wednesday that judicial police carried out searches in the Lisbon Chamber for “suspicions of corruption, economic participation in cases and forgery”, in a “service agreement signed in 2015” by the then mayor Fernando Medina (PS), now Finance Minister.
The Chamber of Lisbon then confirmed to Lusa that the searches were carried out on Tuesday at the Urban Planning Department.
According to TVI, it is “the violation of the rules for contracting a historic PS of Castelo Branco for the purpose of managing public works in the capital”.
“The Public Prosecution Service believes that the purpose of the scheme was to raise money for public works, with bribes from contractors, for the illegal financing of the PS, through the so-called blue bags,” TVI said.
Also according to the television station, the PJ carried out searches in the Urban Planning Department of the Lisbon Chamber and in the homes and businesses of two Castelo Branco businessmen suspected of participating in a fundraising program for Socialist Party structures.
“The targets, on suspicion of corruption, are Joaquim Morão, a former socialist and former mayor of Castelo Branco and Idanha-a-Nova, and his friend António Realinho, a businessman from the same part of the country, who even served a prison sentence for fraud TVI said.
Lusa has contacted the Treasury Department for further clarification on the matter, but so far it has not been possible to get a response.
Speaking to TVI, Fernando Medina said he was not aware of any investigation, adding only that “the recruitment procedures of the Lisbon City Council were instructed by the competent services for recruitment, in accordance with the applicable rules” .
The capital’s current mayor, Social Democrat Carlos Moedas, told journalists on Thursday morning on the sidelines of the opening of a new office for a company in Lisbon that Tuesday’s searches were “referred to previous mandates”, and assures that the autarchy will “obviously co-operate with justice”.
Asked if the previous executives include that of the current Prime Minister, António Costa, as mayor of Lisbon, Moedas said: “I cannot confirm anything else to you”.
Source: DN
