Madeira government defends social mobility subsidy review

The outgoing president of the Madeira government (PSD/CDS-PP), Miguel Albuquerque, said on Tuesday that the executive intends to consider revising the social mobility benefit, arguing that users should only pay a nominal cost.

“We will establish contacts with the Government [da República] to consider, also in the case of the Azores, what is the best solution,” he said, arguing that “there should be a fund on the part of the state that would guarantee all residents who wish to travel the payment of the nominal value.” [da passagem com subsídio]”

Miguel Albuquerque, speaking on the sidelines of a visit to the 1st cycle school in Estreito de Camara de Lobos, municipality of Camara de Lobos, in the west of Madeira, reacted to the fact that the Judicial Police (PJ) arrested this Tuesday five people carried out 71 searches as part of an operation focused on the autonomous region of Madeira and the Lisbon metropolitan area, the aim of which was to defraud the state through subsidies for social mobility.

The social mobility subsidy came into force in September 2015, with Madeirans paying €86 and students €65 for round-trip travel to the mainland and €119 to the Azores. This amount may be increased if it exceeds the maximum refundable cap. , which is 400 euros.

According to the SP statement, searches in and outside homes were carried out in Lisbon, Loures and Madeira, especially in the municipalities of Funchal, Santa Cruz and Câmara de Lobos, and were the second initiative of Operation Rota do Viahante, which is under investigation under development. heads the Department of Investigation and Criminal Affairs (DIAP) Louresha.

“The investigation established that the defendants, in order to obtain large illicit economic profits, decided to develop a criminal scheme with the aim of obtaining illicit income through a social mobility subsidy associated with hundreds of non-existent trips, the total amount of improper reimbursements exceeding half a million euros,” the note says. published by SP.

The SP also clarified that the plan for these elements included “a request from the residents” of Madeira, “who were provided with documents necessary for the withdrawal of this subsidy and previously falsified, such as airline tickets, tickets and reservations, invoices and receipts.”

These people were then accompanied by members of the criminal network and presented documents at STT stations on the mainland to receive reimbursement from the government.

Also, according to the president of the regional government, the state should create a scheme similar to that already implemented by the Madeira executive for university students, through a fund that guarantees only the face payment of a subsidized ticket – 65 euros.

Miguel Albuquerque, on the other hand, said that on Tuesday, as part of the PJ operation, not a single search was carried out at the regional government secretariat.

“Not yet,” he assured.

The judiciary indicated that the five detainees range in age from 23 to 55 years and will be presented to the judge of the Criminal Court of Loures to learn about the coercive measures in this process, in which the accused is already in pre-trial detention.

In the note, the SP also recalled the implementation of “several police operations” over the past five years to dismantle “criminal networks involved in the fraudulent use of social mobility subsidies” in Madeira and the Azores, which have already caused damage to the state. more than six million euros.