The investigation phase of Operation Lex begins this Wednesday in the Supreme Court (STJ) with the hearing of the first witnesses, almost two years after the Ministry of Public Administration (MP) became aware of the prosecution of 17 defendants.
The defendants include three former judges – Rui Rangel (expelled by the Supreme Council of the Judiciary), Fatima Galante (Rangel’s ex-wife, forcibly dismissed by the Judicial Administration and Discipline Authority) and Luis Vas das Neves (former chairman of da Relação de Lisboa, meanwhile retired) , as well as the former president of Benfica, Luis Filipe Vieira, the “embodied” vice president Fernando Tavares and businessman José Veiga.
Also accused are Ruy Moura, Jorge Rodriguez Barroso, Jose Bernardo Martins, Bernardo Andre Proenza Santos Martins, Nuno Miguel Proenza da Costa Ferreira, Albertino Figueira, Rita Figueira Filipe, Bruna Amaral, Octavio Correia, Elsa Correia and Oscar Juan Hernandez Lopez.