The former president and vice-president of the Montalegre Chamber were sentenced to trial this Friday following an instructive ruling in a case involving some 70 defendants for crimes such as malfeasance and money laundering, including those involving a criminal organization.
The verdict in the case of former Socialist mayors Orlando Alves and David Teixeira was read out this Friday in the Murca court,
The criminal investigation judge stated that the court decided not to prosecute the former president, vice president and employee of the municipal council of Montalegre for the crimes of criminal association and to prosecute all the accused, applicants and non-applicants to the investigation, for the facts stated in the indictment, with the exception of the facts relating to the crime of criminal association.
According to the decision of the investigation, the court considered the reasons given to be justified and understood that there were no elements that could qualify the crime of a criminal association, therefore it did not prosecute the former mayors and the former employee of the municipality of Montalegre for the facts of the crime, the slanderous accusation set out in the public accusation.
Orlando Alves’ defense requested the opening of an investigation, a process that takes place in the Mursa court due to its size in terms of the number of defendants, lawyers, witnesses and written documentation.
In addition to the ban on entry to the municipality of Montalegre in the district of Vila Real, the former mayor must report three times a week to the police station in his area of residence, in Viseu, where he lives with his family members. Your assets will remain seized.
The prosecutor’s office (MP) accuses the former president of more than 300 crimes, including official crimes, economic participation in business, money laundering, document forgery and fraud in obtaining a subsidy.
As part of Operation Alkimia, launched by the Judicial Police (SP) in October 2022, two former mayors and a municipal employee (head of the construction department) were arrested.
During the trial, the MP is indicting a total of around 70 defendants, individuals and companies, accusing them of crimes such as active and passive corruption, malfeasance in office, improperly receiving or offering advantages, or abuse of power.
The mayors are suspected of favouring friends and relatives in hundreds of public tenders, of systematically using direct or simplified adjustments, of artificially dividing up work or services and of sharing costs in a scheme that is suspected to have lasted between 2014 and 2022.
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.