Prosecutors brought charges against 16 defendants, accusing them of 55 crimes, including active and passive corruption and a criminal association involving the Azores Regional Health Service, the Lisbon Prosecutor General’s Office said on Monday.
The investigation, known as Operation Asklepio, spanned the period from 2014 to 2017, with the defendants accused of “active and passive corruption, improper receipt of benefits, abuse of power, illegal access and criminal association.”
This is an alleged scheme in which “the main defendants, the society and its director, working in the supply of medical and hospital supplies to the island hospitals and health centers of the Regional Secretariat of Health” attributed to employees the “economic benefits” of these medical services in order to have an advantage in awarding contracts for the supply of goods either through government tenders or through direct agreements.”