Attorney General Amadeu Guerra said today that he ‘hopes’ the preliminary investigation into the Spinumviva case – involving the family of Prime Minister Luís Montenegro – will be completed by the start of the Christmas judicial recess on December 22.
Guerra was talking on the sidelines of an event in Loures to mark Anti-Corruption Day – and to be fair even this date is way beyond the expectations of most people when the preliminary investigation was first mooted back in March.
Guerra seemed to suggest that at least part of the delay stemmed from the ‘non-delivery’ at speed of documents initially requested.
“I always wanted a quick decision. Now, there are many volumes, a lot of evidence being analysed,” he said.
The controversy surrounding Spinumviva arose following reports in Correio da Manhã newspaper that the company, among other activities, was involved in the purchase and sale of real estate – information that was added to other reports of companies and assets owned by members of the government in the real estate sector, when the government was reviewing the land law, with a possible impact on the valuation of land and houses.
At the same time, Expresso reported that Luís Montenegro’s family business received a monthly fee of €4,500 from the Solverde group, which owns casinos and hotels, for “specialised compliance services and the definition of procedures in the field of personal data protection”.
On November 20, the Bar Association announced the closure of its investigation on suspicions of illegal representation by the company, saying there was “insufficient evidence of criminal activity”.
Days earlier, the prime minister said he hoped the preliminary investigation by the Public Prosecutor’s Office would be completed “as quickly as possible”.
“What I can hope for is that this happens as quickly as possible. I have always hoped for this from the outset, so I am calm and will wait for that moment,” he told reporters during his recent visit to Brazil.
Bizarrely, only a month before, Sábado published a report suggesting the preventative investigation was going to be stepped up. At the time, Mr Montenegro described himself as “shocked and outraged” – so it will be very interesting to see what the decision is, finally, at the start of the Christmas judicial recess.
Source: LUSA
