PJ police search premises this morning; no arrests this far
PJ judicial police carried out searches this morning at Loures Municipal Police on suspicion of crimes of corruption, embezzlement, abuse of power, computer fraud and document forgery.
The searches began shortly after 9am, confirmed a source from Loures City Council (Lisbon district).
According to the PJ, the case concerns “suspicions of various illegal acts by members of the Municipal Police, particularly in the preparation and processing of administrative offence reports”.
“Facts related to the provision of paid services without a legal framework and for the benefit of private companies, as well as the payment of overtime and overtime in breach of applicable legal provisions” are also being investigated.
The PJ indicates that it carried out the police operation as part of six investigations led by Loures’ Department of Investigation and Criminal Action (DIAP).
“15 search and seizure warrants and computer searches” were executed, involving “facts likely to constitute the practice of crimes of passive corruption, active corruption, embezzlement, abuse of power, computer fraud and document forgery”.
Around 30 inspectors and experts from the PJ’s Technological and Computer Expertise Unit took part in the operation. A reporter for SIC Notícias put the officialese into context: the police are suspected of having “received money for not following through with offences relating to licence inspections”.
This thus looks like a probe into ‘back-handers’ that have characterised Portuguese life for longer than most people care to remember.
Source material: Lusa/ SIC Notícias
