The Chega councilor at Santarém City Council, Pedro Frazão, questioned this Monday, May 6, the executive led by the PSD about the legal proceedings involving former president Moita Flores, the municipality and the parking concession company in Santarém. city.
Taking as a starting point the acquittal of Francisco Moita Flores in yet another judicial process, this one for corruption and money laundering, initiated after a complaint from the municipality itself, Pedro Frazão questioned “where the political responsibilities lie”, and recalled that the Santarém Chamber has already spent almost one million and two hundred thousand euros in payments to the law firm Abecassis, Moura, Marques e Associados, which represents the municipality in several cases.
The Chega councilor wanted to know, of the 1.2 million, what amount was charged for the processes of the underground parking lot and the building that would be used to house the response to Flu A, and why the municipality did not denounce the contract with abispark, the concessionaire of parking, which has not paid 241 thousand euros annually since 2011 and already owes 3.6 million euros in rent to the municipality.
“How is it possible for a company to stop paying rent for ten years and everything remains the same”, asked Pedro Frazão, also blaming the PS on this issue because it says or does nothing and continues to support the PSD executive.
Debt in court
In response to Pedro Frazão, the mayor of Santarém, Ricardo Gonçalves, said that no one handed him power and that he was elected three times by the population, explaining that the abispark debt process is being settled through a arbitration court, “where everyone claims their share”, and the 3.6 million interest still needs to be added throughout this decade.
Ricardo Gonçalves says that he only learned about many issues regarding Moita Flores’ management when he took over leadership of the municipality and guaranteed that while he is in charge of the Santarém Chamber he will not “stop defending the municipality”, a defense that motivated him, in the name of the municipality, present complaints against the former president.
Remembering that the municipality was only an assistant in the legal processes and that the Public Ministry investigated the complaint, Ricardo Gonçalves has no doubt that whether or not the crimes with which Moita Flores was accused existed, there were clear irregularities such as documents that, legally, lacked two signatures and which were signed only by the former president, or payments made without the respective appropriateness.
Regarding payments to the Lisbon law firm, Ricardo Gonçalves explained that it is following up on many old cases, some dating back several decades and very high amounts like the case of Quinta da Mafarra, situations that I would like to leave resolved in a year’s time when I leave the leadership of the Santarém Chamber.
