Traveler’s Route II. Four detainees in Madeira interrogated in Funchal

“OThe four detainees were only identified today at the District Court, where they will be subject to interrogation”, judge Filipe Câmara told Lusa.

The official highlighted that “the first interrogation was interrupted due to the overtime strike by judicial employees and should continue tomorrow”.

Filipe Câmara said he did not know the reasons that led to the change in plans in this operation, because the detainees were expected to be moved to Lisbon for interrogation.

“They are not [os motivos] to my knowledge”, he highlighted.

According to a note from the Public Ministry, five people were arrested on Tuesday in Madeira and the Lisbon region, in a case of alleged fraud against the State in the social mobility subsidy. They are indicted for criminal association, qualified fraud, forgery of documents and money laundering. of capital.

The same information states that this investigation already had eleven defendants, one of them in preventive detention, and that the investigation continued under the direction of the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Department of Investigation and Criminal Action (DIAP) of Loures, with the assistance of the Judiciary Police (PJ ).

For its part, the PJ announced that today it detained five people and carried out 71 searches in an operation focused on the Autonomous Region of Madeira and the Metropolitan Area of ​​Lisbon, which aimed to fraud the State through the social mobility subsidy, worth more than half a million of euros.

According to the police 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 The investigation is being carried out by 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. exceeding 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 and/or canvassers and controllers”, said the Judiciary.

The detainees, who are between 23 and 55 years old, were expected to be brought before a judge at the Loures criminal investigation court, which did not materialize.

Elements from the National Anti-Corruption Unit 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.

Read Also: Madeira: Sixteen inmates requested documentation to vote

Download our free App.

Eighth consecutive year Consumer Choice for Online Press and elected product of the year 2024.
* Study by e Netsonda, Nov. and ten. 2023 product of the year – pt.com

Download our free App.

Eighth consecutive year Consumer Choice for Online Press and elected product of the year 2024.
* Study by e Netsonda, Nov. and ten. 2023 product of the year – pt.com