Former President Miranda do Douro was tried on suspicion of benefiting a businessman

This Monday, the Bragança court began hearing the case of the former president of the Chamber of Miranda do Douro, Artur Nunez, and the former head of the municipal works department, Amilcar Machado, accused of assisting a businessman in a commercial transaction.

Two defendants are responsible for the crime of economic participation in a business. The former president is also accused of malfeasance. Another defendant, Amilcar Machado, is also responsible for abuse of power.

Arthur Nunez served as mayor from 2009 to 2021. That same year, Amilcar Machado resigned as a municipal employee.

The facts set out in the indictment of the Prosecutor’s Office (MP), published on the official website of the Prosecutor General’s Office, date back to 2010.

“The accused divisional manager, with the knowledge and consent of the accused chamber president, approached a trader with whom he had a close personal relationship and told him, even before the hiring process began, that he would be responsible for the sale and installation of an air conditioner on the ground floor of the building municipal council at the presented price,” the statement says.

Also, according to the deputy, “the merchant immediately ordered the electrical equipment and materials for air conditioning necessary for the work, which he did in November 2010 and January 2011.”

The indictment further describes that it was only later, in February 2011, that “the accused divisional manager proposed to begin the pre-contractual procedure for the direct award of the contract, proposing as a legal entity to employ the said trader and specifying the amount of 42,000 euros, which he submitted in the budget.”

The work was valued at €41,991 plus VAT and carried out by the businessman in question, “ensuring him a profit of between 85% and 983% on the material he supplied for installation in the city council building,” the MP calculated.

At the first court hearing, both defendants appeared before the panel of judges.

The former director of public works, who first came forward with the statements, explained that the renovation was carried out on the first floor with “plasterboard, air conditioning and furniture.”

He added that although the agency he headed was responsible for the intervention, it “had nothing to do with the project,” which he said was authorized by the then-current president.

Arthur Nunez, for his part, stated that he had no contact with the company that was awarded the intervention. “The only thing I did was inform the technicians about the need for this work,” the former mayor said.

This work was necessary, explained Arthur Nunez, because it was necessary to equip premises to serve the clients of Balcão Único, and the construction conditions did not exist during the Estado Novo era.

Referring to the facts of which he is accused, Arthur Nunez said that the sustainability of the work is based “on the principle of trust” in the information previously collected by technicians, which allows them to choose the best price.

The winning proposal was the only one in the competition. The selection criterion will be the one whose presented budget cost is the lowest.