The Iraqi ambassador to Portugal, Saad Mohammed Ali, has been targeted in a scam to hand over €30,000 to ‘forget the case’ involving his sons who so badly beat up a local youth that he needed reconstructive surgery.
Someone claiming to be Rúben Cavaco’s lawyer, Rúben being the youth that was attacked in Ponte de Sor by the ambassador’s twin sons, tried to set up a meeting with the Iraqi ambassador to receive a pay-off in return for his alleged client Rúben dropping any further claim for compensation.
The real lawyer for Rúben Cavaco has stepped forward to state unequivocally that there is no second lawyer working on the case and this has been an attempt to trick the ambassador out of €30,000.
Lawyer, Dina Fouto, representing one of the ambassador's sons, said that "the ambassador never intended to hand over the money," after a request for a meeting in the Parque das Nações in Lisbon to hand over the cash.
Ruben’s lawyer, Sanatana-Maia Leonardo, learned of the set-up after a telephone call from the Iraqi embassy.
"When they called me, it was to request documentation for the agreement that needed to be signed. I have never spoken with the ambassador, I have never called the Embassy of Iraq, I have never had any contact with the Embassy. There is a fraudster here who, taking advantage of this situation, has attempted to see if he could gain from it" the lawyer told TVi.
On August 17th, Rúben Cavaco was attacked in Ponte de Sor by the 17-year-old Iraqi twins. He suffered multiple fractures and ended up in the Hospital de Santa Maria in Lisbon, and was placed in induced coma. He was discharged in early September and is recovering at home.
The two boys have diplomatic immunity under the Vienna Convention and, despite Portugal pushing for immunity to be lifted voluntarily, the Iraqi authorities continue to do nothing. The last statement was a month ago when the Iraqis said "it is premature to take a decision" on the request from the Portuguese Government to lift immunity.
Portugal’s Foreign Minister, Augusto Santos Silva, has promised get the diplomatic immunity lifted and said he will do everything possible to make this happen.
Legal remedies are being analysed by Portugal’s Public Prosecution Service but the government rally wants the whole business to be quietly swept under the diplomatic carpet – it’s only public outrage at the damage done to Rúben Cavaco and the fact the twins escaping justice that has prompted any official statements at all.
