On July 15, the former mayors of Montalegre will find out whether they will stand trial

According to a judicial source, on July 15 the former president and vice-president of the Montalegre Chamber will find out whether they will stand trial in the case, which involves about 70 defendants and crimes such as criminal association, malfeasance and money laundering.

The Mursa court held an eye-opening discussion of the case this week involving former socialist mayors Orlando Alves and David Teixeira, and the judge set the eye-opening decision for July 15.

As part of Operation Alkimia, launched by the Judicial Police (JP) in October 2022, two former mayors and a municipal employee (head of the construction department) were arrested.

The defense of Orlando Alves has requested the opening of an investigation, a process that is taking place in the Mursa court due to its size, both in terms of the number of accused, lawyers, witnesses and in terms of written documentation.

The investigation is an optional step, the purpose of which is for the Judge of Criminal Investigation (JIC) to decide whether the trial will proceed and what format the trial will take.

In this process, the Office of the Public Prosecutor (OP) charges a total of about 70 defendants, including individual defendants and companies, accusing them of crimes such as active and passive corruption, malfeasance, improper receipt or offering of advantages, or abuse of power.

The mayors are suspected of favoring friends and relatives in hundreds of government tenders, systematically using direct or shortcut adjustments, artificially dividing work or services and splitting costs in a scheme that the indictment is suspected of lasting. between 2014 and 2022.

The deputy accuses the former president of 395 crimes, including criminal association, malfeasance, economic participation in business, money laundering, forgery of documents and fraud in obtaining subsidies.