The former mayor of Olhão, Francisco Leal, along with four of his political crew, has been accused by Évora’s Criminal Investigation and Action Department (DIAP) of corruption over licensing the blatantly illegal construction of a house in Bias do Sul in the Ria Formosa natural park area.
The indictment was lodged on 31 October last year concerning events in 2005, such is the speed of the justice system. In fact, nothing would have happened at all had there not been an official complaint lodged by the association, Somos Olhão, in 2009.
Former councillors Luís Medeiros, Vítor Lopes and Gil Vicente da Conceição, and current coiuncillor Eduardo Cruz, aka 'Dr Sumol,' all are indicted over the licensing of a three floor, 420m2 villa, in 2005 which went ahead despite council engineers and technicians stating that the project was not legally possible due to the proposed property’s location.
The DIAP in Évora states that the councillors were aware that no construction was allowable on this land and that the building project was authorised “with the sole purpose of benefiting the applicant,” who is the son of a local big-wig.
The land used had no previous construction or ruin on it and the long investigation by the Southern Judicial Police Board, concludes that the accused "acted knowing that they violated their duties as decision-makers with the overall responsibility for the licensing of private building works” and that the building license benefitted the individual “... because of the personal and political connections they had with him and his parent."
The former mayor has claimed that he never put a foot wrong during his ten year tenure to 2013, and “was not corrupted while in office.”
Francisco Leal, the former mayor of Olhão, currently is the district coordinator of the Socialist Party. This case, plus a concurrent accusation of malfeance concerning the missing €6.5 million in a land deal with a builder, has led many to call for Leal’s suspension from his position of political influence and leadership until he is proved innocent.
Another accused is Vítor Lopes, the former Administrator of the council-owned company Fesnima, who remains a director.
Eduardo Cruz is serving as PSD councillor in Olhão and has not resigned 'to concentrate on his defence,' as would be appropriate for anyone accused of such serious corruption.
The thorn in the council’s side, the creator and curator of the 'Olhão Livre' blog, who is behind these formal complaints has so enraged the current mayor on another matter, that António Pina recently called for the blogger Sr Terramoto to be “expelled from the municipality.”
Rather foolishly this outburst in a formal council meeting has been minuted and a framed copy is rumoured now to be hanging in Sr Terramoto’s downstairs khazi.
See also: 'Olhão’s former mayor denies corruption accusation'
