The new Minister of Internal Affairs, Anabela Rodrigues, said today that conclusions made by the General Inspectorate for Internal Affairs (IGAI) which now has reported on the Golden Visa scam, ‘will be considered.’
In the biggest understatement of the week, Rodrigues said, "The Government has acknowledged the usefulness of introducing some changes in the legal process for Golden Visas, of course the conclusions of the report submitted by IGAI will be considered for the legislative adjustment process.”
In human speak, this means that the Golden Visa system had huge loopholes which allowed greedy civil servants to exploit the scheme for personal gain, and the report into the scheme’s failure will be used when building a more robust one.
Operation Labyrinth investigated the allocation of Golden Visas to rich non-EU house buyers and the role of those administering the application processes.
The scheme was so abused by those charged with running it that 11 people were arrested on suspicion of corruption, money laundering, influence peddling and embezzlement.
The fallout includes the former director of the Aliens & Borders Service (SEF) and the Minister in charge, Miguel Macedo, who fell on his sword without admitting personal involvement of any sort, at all, and made this very clear to all.
"I received the report, I am analysing it and before the end of this analysis I will make no further comment," said Rodrigues who today presided over the swearing-in ceremony of the new national director of the Aliens & Borders Service, Judge Antonio Carlos de Beça Pereira, who replaces Manuel Jarmela Palos after he had to resign, unable to do his job while in prison.
Palos was arrested on November 13th, 2014, along with the president of the Institute of Registration and Notaries, António Figueiredo, and the general secretary of the Ministry of Justice, Maria Antonia Anes, who now whiles away the hours at home with her electronic bracelet for company.
