Hundreds of unidentified Chega donations indicate “prohibited financing”, says TVI; Ventura came out the back

Chega allegedly violated the law on donations and received “possible prohibited financing” in its 2019 accounts, according to an investigation by the Exclusivo TVI program into the accounts of the party led by André Ventura deposited at the Political Accounts and Financing Entity (ECFP), which works together of the Constitutional Court. Chega, according to TVI, stopped delivering donation lists in the most recent years (2021 and 2022).

The ECFP audit and report censor the party’s accounts where it proved impossible to know who the party’s donors are. According to TVI, hundreds of donations are only identified on bank statements with the generic name of the digital payments and donations application used by Chega.

The justification given by Chega’s general secretary, Rui Paulo Sousa, is that these are personal data and are protected by the General Data Protection Regulation, which will only be provided if authorized by them and by the person responsible for the GDPR.

This explanation given by Rui Paulo Sousa, contradicts the provisions of the Law on the Financing of Political Parties, which states that these funds must be identified: “Donations of a pecuniary nature made by identified natural persons are subject to
to the annual limit of 25 times the IAS value per donor [cerca de 11 mil euros] and must be issued by check or bank transfer”.

The law is interpreted this way by other parties, which have the identification of donors as a rule.

It was not possible to question André Ventura on the matter, since the leader of Chega, who wants to “clean up Portugal” and “put an end to corruption”, left through the back of a mega-dinner in Vouzela.