The trial of 149 accused of fraud in obtaining subsidies or grants will take place from Monday in Guarda, at the premises of NERGA – Associação Empresarial, in the city’s industrial park.
The Guarda court has scheduled the first hearing of the trial for 9 a.m. Monday, with at least a second hearing already scheduled for the next day.
Given the scale of the trial, the trial will take place in the hall of the Business Association of the Region of Guarda (NERGA) in the city’s industrial park.
In addition to the 149 defendants, 136 witnesses and 70 lawyers are participating in the trial.
According to the ministry’s indictment, consulted by the Lusa agency, it involves the improper receipt of subsidies by entrepreneurs and farmers in the districts of Guarda and Castelo Branco, who, between 2010 and 2013, purchased tractors and other equipment from two companies based in Guarda, with financing communities.
According to the prosecutor’s office, the defendants committed the crime of fraud in obtaining a subsidy or subsidy, punishable by imprisonment for a term of 2 to 8 years.
The acquisitions were carried out as part of investment projects approved by the Institute of Agriculture and Fisheries Finance (IFAP) through the Regional Directorate of Agriculture and Fisheries Center (DRAPC) under the Program for Rural Development (PRODER).
The indictment states that “through the use of invoices that did not correspond to the actual value at which the equipment was sold, and consequently through false (falsified) documents, financial support (subsidies) was (wrongly) provided at values that were not true.” correspond to the actual paid values, which amounted to a global amount of 331,266.09 [euros] in case of farmers who purchased equipment from MTA, and 37,350.29 [euros] regarding equipment purchased from MAQUIGUARDA.”
154 investment projects were studied, 100 with invoices issued by MTA (Machine and Tractor Trade) and 54 with invoices issued by MAQUIGUARDA (Comércio e Máquinas, Veículos e Equipamentos Lda.), both located in Guarda.
According to the indictment, the purchases were subject to discounts, but the invoices did not reflect the discounts provided by the companies.
“Defendants knew that if invoices submitted to DRAPC under PRODER projects were subject to rebates, they would need to be reported to those entities,” the document states.
The rebates identified during the investigation were delivered to farmers or close family members by checks, bank transfers or cash.
“The defendants realized that in this way they provided the competent authorities and actually provided deliberately false and inaccurate information about the actual purchase price of the equipment,” the indictment emphasizes.
By acting in this way “with the aim of obtaining a higher percentage of assistance than was actually due,” the prosecution holds that “the defendants knew that they were causing harm to the state because the values represented in the payment requests did not correspond to the costs actually paid for each from invoices.
The investigation was prompted by anonymous complaints.
In the ruling, the judge speaks of “evil” and points out that “everyone knew that their behavior was prohibited and punishable by criminal law.”