Former Secretary of State for Civil Protection Jose Artur Neves and Mayor Arouca were charged with the crime of political evasion and aggravated forgery, it was announced Tuesday.
In a note posted on its website, the Porto Regional Attorney General’s Office (PGRP) mentions that charges were filed against two defendants, the former president and the mayor of Aroc (and vice president at the time), by an order dated November 7th.
Along with these defendants, according to PGRP, the defendant was also charged with the same offenses of political evasion and aggravated forgery, and the company he ran for aggravated forgery.
The facts concern the order and conduct of public works promoted by the municipality of Aroca, aimed at paving a site located in the parish of the municipality, on the occasion of the municipal elections of 2017, when José Artur Neves, acting mayor of Aroca, was elected by the PS and Margarida Belen became vice president, who will become his successor.
“The prosecutor’s office found it indictable that the contract was awarded without following any procedure prescribed by law for public procurement, only orally, at the direction of the former president with the consent of his successor, in order to ensure the highest possible number of votes in the list, which he himself (which ran for mayor of the municipal assembly) and the defendant (who ran for mayor of the city council) were part of and, on the other hand, so that the beneficiary company could see itself preferred the speedy execution and payment of the work entrusted to it, ”the same note says.
Shortly after taking office as mayor of Arouka, Margarida Belén will determine the opening of the procedure by direct award at a price of €42,617.50 “if such procedure is instructed by or at the command of the defendants, with parts of the procedure as if it had not yet been carried out”.
The indictment also states that in awarding this contract, “the legal three-year limits on the date of the contract were also violated by a direct award, since it was an award for services of the same type or identical to previous awards. occurred during this financial year and during the previous two financial years with the same company.
In this regard, the prosecutor’s office demanded the loss of benefits in relation to the value of the contract.
In addition to this case, José Artur Neves is also accused of procuring self-protection collars as part of the Aldeia Segura – Gente Segura program implemented after the 2017 forest fires.
Following this case, José Artur Neves resigned as Secretary of State for Civil Protection in September 2019, the same day that the Judicial Police raided the Ministry of the Interior and the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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