The Lisbon City Council confirmed this Wednesday that the searches were carried out at the municipality’s urban planning department, but sent additional clarifications to the judiciary.
“Any clarification must be provided by the judiciary,” an official source in the Lisbon city council told Lusa, confirming only searches in the urban planning department.
TVI/CNN Portugal reported this Wednesday evening that on Tuesday the Judicial Police carried out searches of the Lisbon Chamber for “suspicions of corruption, economic involvement in business and falsification” in an appointment for “providing services, which was signed in 2015. by the then mayor Fernando Medina, who is now finance minister.
According to TVI, what is at stake is “violating the rules of contracting a historic PS from Castelo Branco to manage public works in the capital.”
“The public ministry believes that the purpose of the scheme was to raise money for public works through bribes from contractors to illegally finance the penitentiary through so-called blue bags,” TVI reports.
Also, according to the channel, the SP conducted searches in the urban planning department of the Lisbon Chamber, as well as in the homes and companies of two businessmen from Castelo Branco, suspected of participating in a fundraising scheme for the structures of the Socialist Party.
“Targets on suspicion of corruption are Joaquim Morao, a former socialist and former mayor of Castelo Branco and Idanha a Nova, and his friend António Realino, a businessman from the same region of the country who even served a prison sentence for fraud,” according to TVI.
Lusa has contacted the Ministry of Finance and the Judicial Police for further clarification on the case, but has yet to receive a response.
Speaking to TVI, Fernando Medina said he was not aware of any investigation, adding only that “the recruitment processes at the Lisbon City Council have been instructed by the competent recruitment authorities in accordance with applicable regulations.”
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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