The former mayor of Montalegre, Orlando Alves, expressed this Friday an “absolutely clear conscience” regarding the case in which he is accused, which involves crimes such as criminal association, active and passive corruption, malfeasance or money laundering.
In a conversation with Lusa, Orlando Alves said that the “only crime” with which he can be accused is the protection of public interests by seeking to “promote the creation of conditions for territorial unity and internal regulation.”
“Not only do I have an absolutely clear conscience, but I am also vain and proud of everything I have done,” he emphasized.
According to a statement published this Friday by the Regional Prosecutor General’s Office of Porto, the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) has brought charges against former Montalegre mayor Orlando Alves and former vice-president David Teixeira in a case involving 60 defendants. also covers crimes related to economic participation in business, falsification of documents, improperly obtaining or offering an advantage, money laundering and fraud in obtaining a subsidy or subsidy.
Speaking to Lusa, David Teixeira’s lawyer Ricardo Sa Fernandez said that “at the appropriate time the defense will demonstrate” the innocence of the former vice-president of the Montalegre Chamber.
“I am very calm because I believe that at the right time the defense will prove that David Teixeira did not commit any of the crimes charged to him,” Ricardo Sa Fernandez said.
He also said it had not yet been decided whether an investigation would be requested or whether there would be an opportunity to pursue a “full defence” in court.
Orlando Alves and David Teixeira were arrested in October 2022 when they resigned respectively from the positions of President and Vice President of the Montalegre Chamber, elected by the PS.
In this process, the deputy accuses a total of 60 defendants, accusing them, depending on the relevant degree of intervention, of committing crimes of a criminal community, crimes of active and passive corruption, malfeasance, economic participation in business, falsification of documents, unlawfully obtaining or offering an advantage, money laundering, and the crime of subsidy or subsidy fraud.
According to the indictment, the value of the benefits obtained from criminal activities is approximately 10.5 million euros.
The MP also states that inappropriate assets were found in the assets of eight defendants and one company – in the case of defendants holding political positions, as well as employees and people directly associated with them – totaling €5.4 million.
According to the deputy, we are talking about the actions of three defendants performing functions in the Montalegre Chamber, the former president and vice-president and an employee (head of a division) of 20 companies, three of which belong to the family core of the Montalegre Chamber. Orlando Alves, 13 companies belonging to the friendship group of the same defendant, and four companies actually managed by the vice president of the defendant, and 37 defendants, managers of the defendant companies and/or family-friendship relationships of the first defendants.
According to the indictment, between 2014 and 2022, the accused mayors and an employee “concocted a plan that they carried out throughout this entire period, leading a criminal organization and which other defendants joined and jointly pursued the goal of satisfying the interests of economic benefit for themselves, their companies and other defendants (people from their personal circle of family or friends), through various actions granted to them preferential treatment within the framework of a government contract, with a consistent violation of government duties, contract rules and government expenditures, to the detriment of other competitors and the public interest.”
The MP talks, in particular, about the systematic use of direct adjustment or simplified adjustment, artificial division of work or services and splitting of costs, the use of different license subcategories in the same type of services, dispersal or masking of work by services of the same type.
Orlando Alves remains subject to enforcement orders requiring him to remain at the residence and is prohibited from contacting David Teixeira and the employee who was required to post bail.
According to Orlando Alves, the indictment left “60 defendants, families and companies completely destroyed,” leaving “people unemployed and forced to emigrate.”
“That’s what you get from this immorality of having those who think the best way to get into a position of power is to decapitate the mayors,” he said, pointing the finger at the opposition, which he believed was the one that started this whole process.
Orlando Alves recalled that because of the lawsuit he was left “without salary, without a car, without a house, without anything.”
“And all this is only to protect public interests,” he concluded.
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Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Sandra Hansen, a news website Author and Reporter for 24 News Reporters. I have over 7 years of experience in the journalism field, with an extensive background in politics and political science. My passion is to tell stories that are important to people around the globe and to engage readers with compelling content.