Suspicions that led to searches of the Cascais city council related to a factory producing surgical masks for Covid-19 may constitute crimes related to passive and active corruption, malfeasance and abuse of power, the state ministry said on Wednesday.
“Crimes that may be at risk are tentatively classified and depending on more definitive evidence as passive corruption, active corruption, economic involvement in business, malfeasance and abuse of power, with the accused not yet identified,” the prosecutor’s office said. Republic of the District of Western Lisbon.
A note published on the website of the prosecutor’s office regarding the searches carried out this Wednesday in the city council of Cascais in the Lisbon district adds that the investigation is “shrouded in judicial secrecy.”
The Ministry specified that this Wednesday “a series of searches took place in houses and outside the house, the targets of which were the municipal company Cascais Próxima – Management of Mobility, Urban Spaces and Energy”, an organic division of the Chamber of Cascais, “certain elements associated with these legal entities and two private companies.”
The memo said the searches “proceeded normally, without incident and with the cooperation of those targeted, with the collection of documentary evidence and, above all, digital evidence, mainly in the form of email.”
According to what CM As it turned out, the SP went to the PSD headquarters to collect all the documents relating to the election campaign of Nuno Pinto Luz when he ran in 2019.
The facts investigated “concern suspicions of obtaining undue benefits from a private company owned by a foreign citizen” by selling this company “at cost and without any formal public procurement procedure of real estate and furniture purchased by the municipality.” Cascais and is structured as a manufacturing unit for the production of surgical masks,” he adds.
According to the prosecutor’s office, the facts “occurred between May 7, 2020 and May 2, 2022.”
The searches carried out by the Judicial Police (PJ) at Cascais City Council began in the morning and ended shortly after 3:30 p.m., a municipal source told Lusa.
The President of the Chamber, Carlos Carreiras (PSD), said that he was not surprised by the searches and explained that they were based on a report prepared by the Court of Auditors on the results of inspections carried out at the mask factory.
The mayor also mentioned that the Cascais Chamber disputed the report because it believed that “there were no irregularities,” saying that “that is what will be investigated” during these searches.
Carreiras said he had a “clear conscience” and believed he had full responsibility for the entire mask-making process, considering his then-Vice President Miguel Pinto Luz (current Minister of Infrastructure and Housing) and the rest of the council to be irresponsible. .
The Social Democrat also reported that, in addition to the city council, the SP sought computer resources in the São Jose building, where the urban planning services of the municipality operate, in the center of Cascais and in the municipal company that managed the relevant communication process. masks.
In June 2020, the municipality launched its own production of individual protective surgical masks for the population using equipment from China, which also supplies it to other municipalities.
After investing 500 thousand euros, Cascais turned an old warehouse into a factory for the production of masks.
The company also purchased two machines from China and, as of June 28, 2020, had a “production capacity of more than five million masks per month, with a unit cost of [era] half the best price offered on the market,” then-councilor Miguel Pinto Luz said at the time.
The municipality also installed 400 mask dispensers throughout the municipality and distributed free masks to public transport users, where this equipment was mandatory in line with Covid-19 prevention measures.
The Liberal Initiative of Cascais (IL), however, considered the searches in the municipality “alarming”, noting that they could be related to the sale of the warehouses where the factory operated to the company that installed and produced the masks.
“In fact, the Cascais City Council appears to have chosen as the criterion for determining the sale price in 2021 simply the same price at which it acquired the warehouses in 2020, despite the fact that the market conditions are clearly different,” accused IL in Cascais in a statement. .
According to the party, the municipality argued that “among the reasons for the sale of Shiningjoy was the fact that this company had a partnership with the municipal company Cascais Próxima EMSA to produce personal protective equipment in response to the pandemic.”
In addition, the Liberals said, the municipality pointed to the fact that Shiningjoy has “extensive experience in the production of this type of material, having equipped the facilities with four more machines to produce personal protective equipment and created 30 jobs.”
“An argument like this, whereby preference appears to be given to a particular buyer solely on the basis of the partnership that exists between him and the municipal company, is completely incomprehensible,” IL explained.
Author: morning Post This Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Tifany Hawkins, a professional journalist with years of experience in news reporting. I currently work for a prominent news website and write articles for 24NewsReporters as an author. My primary focus is on economy-related stories, though I am also experienced in several other areas of journalism.