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Portugal’s Judicial Police (PJ) on Thursday carried out raids targeting an alleged corruption “network” working within the Socialist Party’s (PS) local government power base.
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A source in the PJ confirmed the operation to Euronews and later stated in a press release that five arrests had been made and 37 individuals named as suspects.
“The Judicial Police, through the National Anti-Corruption Unit, is conducting a police operation to execute 60 search warrants for residences and 32 search warrants for non-residential premises in the areas of Lisbon, Mafra, Oeiras, and Coimbra, investigating the crimes of malfeasance and economic participation in business, involving the awarding of various contracts by municipal councils and parish councils,” the PJ’s statement reads.
“At issue are direct award procedures or prior consultation processes, in clear violation of applicable legal norms and with evident harm to the public treasury,” it added.
Those taken into custody are due to appear before the Central Criminal Investigation Court in Lisbon for initial questioning.
The news was first reported by CNN Portugal, which noted that the searches will extend to the Socialist Party headquarters in Lisbon.
The report said the investigation is looking at “an alleged network built around the PS’s local government power” and the “hiring of party members and the awarding of contracts to companies owned by Socialists through direct negotiations, totaling more than 800,000 euros between 2016 and 2022 alone”.
At the center of the investigation is the Santa Maria Maior parish council, which was led by Miguel Coelho, one of the main targets of the operation, CNN Portugal reported.
Per the report, the former mayor allegedly recruited in Mafra “a network of nine former PS candidates for that municipality, led by Sérgio Santos,” with the network reportedly contracting 19 companies linked to socialist activists.
The wife of Duarte Moral, a former advisor to ex-Prime Minister António Costa is one of the beneficiaries of these direct contracts, the report said. Duarte Moral himself was one of the people arrested, it added.
