According to the PJ statement, home and non-home searches took place in Lisbon, Loures and Madeira, especially in the municipalities of Funchal, Santa Cruz and Câmara de Lobos, and constituted a second initiative in Operation Rota do Viajante, whose investigation is in charge of the Department of Investigation and Criminal Action (DIAP) of Loures.
“The investigation found that the defendants, with the aim of obtaining large illegitimate economic benefits, decided to develop a criminal scheme with the aim of obtaining illegitimate profits through the social mobility subsidy, related to hundreds of non-existent trips, amounting to undue reimbursements. more than half a million euros”, reads the released note.
The PJ also clarifies that the plan for these elements involved “requesting residents” of Madeira, “who were provided with documents necessary to withdraw this subsidy and previously falsified, such as airline tickets, tickets and reservations, invoices and receipts”. These people were then accompanied by members of the criminal network and presented documentation at CTT stations on the mainland to receive reimbursement from the State.
“The now dismantled criminal association demonstrated high levels of organization, with different hierarchical levels, being made up of forgers, recruiters/raisers and controllers”, said the Judiciary.
The detainees are between 23 and 55 years old and will be presented to a judge at the Loures criminal investigation court to learn about the coercive measures in this process, in which there is already a defendant in pre-trial detention.
The PJ note also recalled the carrying out of “several police operations” in the last five years to dismantle “criminal networks dedicated to the fraudulent use of the social mobility subsidy” in Madeira and the Azores, which have already harmed the State by more than six million euros.
Elements from the National Anti-Corruption Unit (UNCC) and the Madeira Criminal Investigation Department were mobilized for this operation, with the PJ also receiving support from the Portuguese Air Force in terms of logistics and transportation of defendants and seized evidence.
