The process of “secret adjustment” begins this Monday and will be assessed in Espinho.

The trial in the “secret adjustments” case, involving former Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) vice-president Hermínio Loureiro and 64 other defendants, will begin on Monday morning at the Espinho court in the district of Aveiro.

Although the case belongs to the Santa Maria da Feira court, this stage of the trial will take place in the Espinho court due to the large number of procedural subjects involved.

The first court hearings should be devoted to establishing the identity of the accused and their possible statements.

The trial in this case was scheduled for June, but was postponed because the defense period had not yet expired at that time.

The process of “secret adjustment” was the result of an investigation that ended in June 2017 with the arrest of seven people, including the then vice-president of the FPF, Hermínio Loureiro, who soon after suspended his mandate in this body.

More than two years later, the Office of the Prosecutor (PO) charged 68 defendants, including former mayors and several directors of sports clubs, with 890 crimes related to passive corruption, active corruption, embezzlement, abuse of power, abuse of influence, and falsification. documents, violation of secrets, economic participation in entrepreneurship, malfeasance and possession of prohibited weapons.

However, several defendants asked for an investigation to be opened, and criminal judge Ana Claudia Nogueira decided not to bring the three defendants to trial.

At the center of the process are the Chamber of Oliveira de Azemeis and Hermínio Loureiro, who led this municipality in the district of Aveiro between 2009 and 2016.

The prosecution alleges that some of the accused used amounts from the revolving funds of this municipality to pay for meals and other personal expenses, as well as expenses of the municipal headquarters of a political party.

The deputy also talks about “violation of competitive procedures” and “use of influence by members of the municipal executive power” on the leadership of the Institute of Employment and Vocational Training and a private institution for social solidarity to “carry out professional internships” for the children of party supporters.

The researchers also found evidence of favoritism for the businessman by the city councils of Estarregi, Matosinhos and Gondomar in public procurement procedures in 2016 and 2017, and also found that the city council of Albergaria a Vella carried out a private project. , in favor of the citizen, while the costs are “diluted by the contract for public works, the procedure of which was carried out in parallel.”