Former SEF employee and now Penamacor councilor found guilty of corruption

Former employee of the Service for Foreigners and Borders (SEF) and now a councilor of the Penamacor Chamber, António Ramos, was sentenced to four years in prison, suspended, for ongoing passive corruption and abuse of power.

According to the Lisbon District Judicial Court, 59-year-old António Ramos, as head of the document issuance department of the Lisbon Regional Directorate of the SEF (DRED), facilitated the registration of residence for foreign citizens in exchange for compensation.

According to the verdict, António Ramos provided reserved and confidential information concerning the processes of residence or the issuance of housing to citizens, and directly intervened in their decisions, “accelerating their progress or directing them directly.”

António Ramos, who denied committing the crimes in court, was also sentenced to pay a daily fine of eight euros for 330 days.

In the same trial, SEF senior technician António Branco was sentenced to three years and eight months’ imprisonment, suspended for the same period, for passive corruption, while Chinese national living in Portugal, Xiuchun Liu, known as A-Chun, was sentenced to four years and six months of imprisonment with a suspended sentence for active corruption based on proven facts, which began in 2014.

“The defendants, in acting in the manner described above, at all times acted freely, knowingly and knowingly, knowing that their conduct was prohibited,” the verdict, dated December 19, 2023, said.

The verdict also emphasizes that SEF employees, “by providing preferential treatment to the cases of citizens referred to them” by defendant A-Chun, “and receiving compensation for this, namely gifts and meals in restaurants, realized that they were not acting in the interests of the state, but rather in his own private interests and contrary to the duties of his position.”

“Defendant António Ramos has repeatedly responded to requests for services made to him by others, acquaintances and colleagues to whom he deferred, either by directly soliciting and expediting the processing of the relevant processes, or by personally assisting applicants in his office, which is a clear abuse of authority, provided to him as the head of DRED,” the verdict says.

The case had already been tried and António Ramos was sentenced to the same four years in prison with a suspended sentence in November 2022, about a year after taking up his position as councilor of the municipality of Penamacor, Castelo Branco district, but the Lisbon Court of Appeal overturned the sentence due to unreasonableness of the decision of the first instance.

After the verdict became known, António Ramos suspended his duties as mayor in charge of human resources, innovation and technology, infrastructure and municipal services, but resumed his powers when the decision was overturned.

As part of the closure process of the SEF in October 2023, according to the nominal list published by the organization on September 19, the name of António Ramos appeared as one of the elements transferred to the Career of Investigations and Supervision of the Judicial Police, with the category of Inspector Coordinator, in a professional situation of availability.