Portugal’s Attorney General, Joana Marques Vidal, said today that the archiving of the investigation in the Mário Centeno ‘tickets for tax relief’ case, followed "the usual procedure."This case focused on alleged benefits given by Finance Minister, Mário Centeno, in exchange for tickets to a Benfica-FC Porto football match.
Joana Marques Vidal was responding to criticisms from various quarters that the case was shelved with convenient speed. She assured the media that all was handled correctly.
"It is the usual procedure in these cases," said Ferreira Leite, offering little comfort to those who will take her words the wrong way.
A note from the Lisbon District Attorney's Office states that "the initiation of criminal proceedings in this case was ordered by the Department of Criminal Investigation and Action (DIAP) of Lisbon, following the publication in the news media of the request for tickets to attend a football match on April 1, 2017, in the presidential box."
According to reports, during the same time period, "an exemption from Municipal Property Tax (IMI) was granted to a family member of the Benfica president who had given tickets to the Minister of Finance when he was asked."
Prosecutors undertook searches at the Ministry of Finance.
The former Finance Minister, Manuela Ferreira Leite, called the whole process "painful."
"There is a permanent suspicion about everything, about anything that moves," she criticised.
In an unrelated case, the Benfica football club president Luís Filipe Vieira has been arrested and questioned as part of Operation Lex. (HERE)
"It is the usual procedure in these cases," said Ferreira Leite, offering little comfort to those who will take her words the wrong way.
A note from the Lisbon District Attorney's Office states that "the initiation of criminal proceedings in this case was ordered by the Department of Criminal Investigation and Action (DIAP) of Lisbon, following the publication in the news media of the request for tickets to attend a football match on April 1, 2017, in the presidential box."
According to reports, during the same time period, "an exemption from Municipal Property Tax (IMI) was granted to a family member of the Benfica president who had given tickets to the Minister of Finance when he was asked."
Prosecutors undertook searches at the Ministry of Finance.
The former Finance Minister, Manuela Ferreira Leite, called the whole process "painful."
"There is a permanent suspicion about everything, about anything that moves," she criticised.
In an unrelated case, the Benfica football club president Luís Filipe Vieira has been arrested and questioned as part of Operation Lex. (HERE)
