Miguel Albuquerque and his ex-wife sold the company to Pestana Group for a million dollars.

The search operation in Madeira, carried out by the Central Department of Investigation and Criminal Affairs of Parliament (DCIAP), whose director is Deputy Attorney General Francisco Narciso, directly targets the deal concluded by Miguel Albuquerque and his ex-wife Elisabeth Andrade, which was reported by SÁBADO magazine. in May 2020.

In 2017 they sold the Quinta do Arco tourist complex, known as Quinta das Rosas, for approximately €3.5 million to the Pestana Group.

One of the objectives of the criminal case 455/19, as well as the two others that led to today’s police operation, is to understand whether the private real estate transaction was the equivalent of a direct adjustment carried out by the regional government against this hotel group. .

In 2017, approximately two months before the signing of the three Quinta do Arco purchase and sale agreements, the Madeira boss transferred, without a public tender, the operation of the Madeira Free Trade Zone/Madeira International Business Center (ZFM/CINM) to a private company. and a public capital company (controlled by Grupo Pestana) that has had this concession since 1987.

Ana Gomes reported the operation to the European Commission and Portuguese authorities.

“I am not aware of any process that may be taking place,” Miguel Albuquerque told SÁBADO magazine at the time.

In a written statement, Miguel Albuquerque guaranteed that the private transactions “were completely transparent” and were carried out “between commercial companies, properly controlled and audited by certified organizations in financial and accounting terms.”

He also stressed that Quinta do Arco’s business “started long before the regional government came to power (April 2015)” and that “all taxes were paid on time.”

In addition to looking for signs of a possible corruption crime (active and passive), in the deal between Miguel Albuquerque and Grupo Pestana, parliamentary and SP investigators extended the investigation to suspicions of other crimes.

At issue are dozens of public works grants, violations of government procurement and public rules for awarding goods and services.

In 2021, the regional section of the Madeira Court of Auditors (CC) and the European Commission (EC) ensured that the Madeira Executive even violated the law in the case of directly adapting the management and operation of ZFM/CINM to Madeira. Society for Development (SDM). The decisions of the court and the EC came even after the regional government stated that the political decision on direct award was made based on the technical opinion of the Sociedade de Advogados Paz Ferreira & Associados.

The ongoing judicial investigation is based on evidence contained in a complaint received by the Madeira Parliament. However, the case was eventually transferred from Funchal to the District Prosecutor’s Office of Lisbon, which handed it over to the Attorney General of the Republic (PGR), Lucília Gago. The decision was made to leave the trial in Lisbon and transfer it to the DCIAP, a parliamentary body specializing in complex crimes.