The PSD/Madeira party denied that the party had received illicit funding from companies for electoral campaigns, one of the suspicions investigated in the framework of the “AB INITIO” operation that the Judicial Police (PJ) carried out this Tuesday in the region.
The party’s stance arose from the operation by the PJ, related to suspicions of economic and financial crimes.
The charges are related to financial participation in a business, receiving or offering an undue advantage, embezzlement and prohibited financing of political parties, according to the PJ.
Operation “AB INITIO” resulted in the arrest of eight people.
In a statement signed by the president of the Madeiran Social Democrats, Miguel Albuquerque, the “PSD/Madeira denies the existence of any illicit financing in its favour by the company Dupla DP or other companies, in particular in the context of the campaigns carried out by the party in the region, as made public in the various media.”
Miguel Albuquerque also states that “the commercial relations between PSD/Madeira and the company, the subject of the investigation, are reflected in invoices and receipts, the payment of which is known to the party at the national level, as well as to the party’s auditors and the auditors of the Constitutional Court.”
In the same document, PSD/Madeira stresses that the party’s accounts are presented annually to its members and are audited by the national PSD and the Constitutional Court.
PSD/Madeira also rejects “any attack on its good name” and hopes that, “at the end of this process, the truth of the facts will be reestablished and those responsible for this investigation will be identified.”
He also reiterated his complete willingness to cooperate with the authorities in order to “clarify and seek the truth.”
Operation “AB INITIO” took place on Tuesday in Madeira with several searches and arrests.
Without giving names, the PJ said those arrested were mayors, businessmen, public servants, political office holders and senior public officials.
Two of the raids were carried out in municipal offices and four in regional secretariats.
A judicial source told Lusa that this investigation is related to the searches and arrests carried out earlier this year on the island of Madeira, which included among the suspects the president of the Regional Government, Miguel Albuquerque, and the then mayor of Funchal, Pedro Calado.
“These are contracts awarded by regional public entities, through their representatives, political office holders and employees, to companies controlled by a single individual, as well as to other companies managed by people with whom they maintain friendly relations, in violation of public bidding rules,” says a note released by the Attorney General’s Office (PGR).
The same note adds that at least 25 competitions carried out between 2014 and 2020 are being investigated, for a total amount of more than one million euros (VAT not included).
A judicial source said that the eight detainees will be heard in Madeira for their first judicial questioning.
According to several media outlets, the president of the Calheta Chamber, Carlos Teles, the former regional secretary for Agriculture Humberto Vasconcelos and the president of the board of directors of the Institute for Health Administration of Madeira (IASAÚDE), Bruno Freitas, are among those arrested, as well as Humberto Drumond and Miguel Nóbrega, partners of Dupla DP, a communications, advertising and marketing agency.
Source: Observadora
