Foreign Minister João Gomes Cravinho said on Tuesday that questions about the suitability of former Director General of Defense Resources Alberto Coelho only came up after his appointment to a public company in the sector.
“the appointment [de Alberto Coelho] occurs when the Inspectorate-General for National Defense has completed its work and the Inspectorate’s report shows that there is no intention or conduct on the part of the Director-General (…) and indeed CRESAP [Comissão de Recrutamento e Seleção para a Administração Pública] didn’t raise any questions either.he claimed.
In the parliamentary committee for Foreign Affairs and Portuguese Communities, Cravinho indicated in a response to the blocking deputy Joana Mortágua that Alberto Coelho had only “later” “appointed and in office, questions arise regarding companies that indeed require a reassessment of the work of the General Inspectorate and that it be sent to the prosecutor’s office”.
“But it is at this point that a question mark arises regarding suitability”needed.
The official pointed out that earlier in its report to the minister, the IGDN had proposed to ratify the additional spending through a retroactive power delegation decision.
“If the IGDN is proposing this, it is because it believes there is no harmful action, but simply a legal non-compliance, possibly due to haste and not with intent to misuse public funds”defended.
As for the “question of who authorized it,” he continued, “is a question answered in the general inspection report: the general manager [Alberto Coelho] took on that responsibility when he didn’t have the skills to do so”.
When asked about his phrase “full speed ahead” used in an email on March 20, Gomes Cravinho replied that it was used “in a context of some informality”.
“This expression is used by me in an email on March 20, that is, in an email that appears the day after the decision to proceed with work, on March 19, and is purely an exhortation to move forward quickly. At that time, in the e-mail there is no doubt about the expense, in addition to what had been established the day before of 750 thousand euros”he explained.
The minister justified the phrase with the context of the covid-19 pandemic and the need for the armed forces to lend their support.
‘It has nothing to do with permits’he added, adding “It is clear that when we say that we can move forward at full speed, it does not mean that we can move forward against the law, outside the framework set by law”.
“Going full steam ahead means this should be a priority, but there is no indication that this should be done in any way other than what is set out in law”he concluded.
The operation is called ‘Perfect Storm’, according to the judicial police “a criminal investigation which aims to investigate the possible practice of, inter alia, active and passive corruption, embezzlement, economic participation in business, abuse of power and money laundering, illegal acts in connection with judgments executed by a central administrative body, to several companies, which have damaged the Portuguese state many thousands of euros”.
At stake are expenditures of about 3.2 million euros in the contract to convert the former Military Hospital of Belém, in Lisbon, into a covid-19 support center, a work with an initial budget of 750 thousand euros.
The derailment was revealed by an audit by the National Defense Inspectorate (IGDN), which focused on Alberto Coelho’s actions.
The operation led to five arrests, including Alberto Coelho, and the arrest of a total of 19 defendants.
After leaving the Directorate General for National Defense Resources, Alberto Coelho served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of ETI (EMPORDEF – Tecnologias de Informação, SA) between June 8, 2021 and July 31, 2022, before requesting his retirement, according to information has been released by this company to Lusa.
Source: DN
