The National Director believes PJ will not be left out of investigations such as Operation Influencer again.

The National Director of the Judicial Police (PJ) expressed this Monday the hope that the PJ will not be excluded again from investigations of economic and financial crimes such as Operation Influential Man, despite the recognition of the autonomy of the prosecutor’s office.

“Typically, that’s not going to happen because the quality of our work and the speed that we’re going to bring to the investigations… those investigations will generally, by law, be referred to the JV. However, the deputy, in his autonomy, has full powers to initiate investigations and conduct them directly. And for us it is not a drama, we feel honored and proud when we intervene in investigations,” said Luis Neves in statements on the sidelines of a conference on corruption and integrity in sports, at PJ headquarters in Lisbon.

Asked about the reasons why, in a case that led to the resignation of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of State (MP) chose other powers to the detriment of the SP, which has specialized competence in investigating corruption and economic and financial crimes, Luis Neves assured that this the matter was “resolved” and recalled the agency’s lack of resources in 2019, when this investigation began.

“The Prosecutor General of the Republic explained there that the investigation began in 2019. We had very insufficient resources. The investigation has the value that it has today – especially the one carried out by you, taking into account those who were influenced – but the investigation in 2019, when it started, it didn’t start for this purpose. Therefore, the people’s deputy called an investigation, did his job and is doing his job,” he noted.

Stressing that the CoP professionals are “very comfortable” in their relationship with the MP, the National Director also noted that Lucilia Gago recently emphasized that she “reaffirms the importance and credibility of the CoP” and expressed her belief that the lack of security of the Forces that he is in charge will not harm the investigation of Operation Influential Man.

“The Deputy may or may not authorize a particular investigation, whether at the outset or at another time. He understood – from his point of view, it was good – to carry it out the way he did, advocating for it. Therefore, the only thing we hope for is that this investigation can be completed successfully and, in the end, the truth of the facts will be revealed,” he continued.

Luis Neves also noted that in the present and future, the SP “will be much more capable of carrying out any investigations and fully assuming its powers,” stressing that the fight against corruption and economic and financial crimes “is the top priority” of the institution.

The Operation Influencer process involves the lithium, green hydrogen and Sines data centers businesses and is based on allegations of malfeasance, active and passive corruption among political officials and influence peddling.

The searches and arrests carried out on November 7 prompted the PGR to release a statement saying that Prime Minister António Costa is the subject of an investigation by the Ministry of State (MP) in the Supreme Court. After this press release, the Prime Minister resigned, and the President of the Republic announced the decision to dissolve parliament and schedule legislative elections for March 10.