A former Madeira official accused of embezzling more than two million euros from a registry office was sentenced again this Tuesday to seven and a half years in prison, a decision against which the defendant will appeal.
The District Court of Madeira sentenced the former official for the crimes of embezzlement and forgery of documents on an ongoing basis.
The jury, chaired by Fernanda Sequeira, also determined the payment of more than 1.1 million euros to the State”2,000 euros to each of the assistants in the process” and also “the collection of DNA and fingerprints”.
The judge said that the “technical knowledge that the defendant had made it easier” to maintain “his criminal attitude over the years.”
After learning of the sentence, the accused’s defense attorney said he will appeal the court’s decision.
In 2018, the accused had already been sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for the same crimes.
However, the Lisbon Court of Appeal ordered the trial to be repeated by another group of judges, understanding that the decision of the court of first instance of Madeira suffered from “an irremediable contradiction in reasoning, in addition to other pathologies”.
António Manuel Góis was accused by the Public Ministry (MP) of a crime of embezzlement and 143 crimes of falsifying documents, such as checks and other accounting elements from the registry office.
The accused, a former employee of the Funchal Mercantile and Automobile Registry, was also president of the municipality of Ponta do Sol, on the west side of the island.
According to the accusation, the embezzlement occurred between 2002 and February 2010, when the accused was the main assistant of the registry office, being responsible for accounting, registering receipts, deposits and movement of accounts and checks.
Also according to the MP, the accused was responsible for falsifying accounting and manipulating the books of fees, receipts and charges and accounting operations.
A check for 20,000 euros raised suspicions, and the investigation found that the money embezzled over the years was used, among other things, to pay salaries and prizes to players and coaches from Ponta-solense.
Source: Observadora
