A company owned by the wife of the former minister, Miguel Relvas, was contracted by a Lisbon parish council to supply communication, media training and press advice.Strategy, Lda, whose majority stakeholder is Marta Sousa Relvas, was hired in April 2015 for €31,686, one month after the business was created.
The contract with the Junta de Freguesia da Estrela, appeared on the government portal for public contracts, but only two years later, well after the contract had ended.
The work was contracted to take 17 months at a cost (including VAT) of €1,863 per month. Marta Sousa Relvas promptly subcontracted the work to another company, the Fascinating Context, which the businesswoman describes as her "partner in this communication project".
The wife of the controversial former minister says that she "paid €800-a-month plus VAT" to the subcontracted company.
Marta Sousa Relvas and the parish council president both deny that Miguel Relvas had anything to do with this arrangement. The businesswoman said that her career in communication began "15 years before meeting Miguel Relvas."
Marta Sousa Relvas had a monthly contract of €1,800, but subcontracted the work for €984 - it seems to be business as usual in the Relvas household with value-for-money for taxpayers a far distant dream...
