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The Public Ministry (MP) of the Supreme Court of Justice (STJ) dismissed the accusation against 17 defendants in the context of the Lex case that investigates the influence relationships of Rui Rangel with the alleged sale of sentences by the former judge, who belonged to the Lisbon Court of Appeal (TRL). Luís Filipe Vieira is accused of receiving an undue advantage and joins the list of defendants that includes a former soccer coach, three judges, Benfica judges and lawyers. The property of Rangel and his ex-wife, judge with suspended functions, Fátima Galante, were arrested. Arguidos runs the risk of losing 1.5 million euros in assets such as real estate, cars and bank account balances.
“The Public Ministry (MP) of the Supreme Court of Justice (STJ) filed a complaint, for a sentence of the Criminal Section of the STJ, against 17 defendants for the practice of crimes of passive and active corruption by illegal act, undue obtaining of advantage, abuse of power, usurpation of functions, falsification of documents, tax fraud and money laundering, ”said the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) in a statement on Friday.
The PGR also reveals that “to guarantee the payment of the benefits determined in the global amount of 1,525,488.84 euros, the seizure of the assets of those affected by the declaration of loss was required.”
According to the PGR, three of the defendants, at the time of the events, were judicial magistrates of the Lisbon Court of Appeals (TRL), one of whom maintains the status of judge, although retired, a fact that determines the jurisdiction of the STJ . The other defendants are charged with related acts.
Among the accused magistrates are Rui Rangel, Fátima Galante and Luís Vaz da Neves. Former judge Rui Rangel is accused of 20 crimes: passive corruption by illicit act (two), improper reception of advantage, abuse of power (four), document falsification (six), tax fraud (six), usurpation of functions and money laundering of capitals. Also his ex-wife, a judge with functions suspended by the Superior Council of the Magistracy, Fátima Galante, is charged with the crime of passive corruption for illicit, abuse of power, money laundering and six crimes of tax fraud.
Vaz das Neves, former president of TRL, is accused of passive corruption for an illegal act and two crimes of abuse of power. It should be remembered that, in February, the former president of TRL, suspected of favoring Judge Rui Rangel in distributing an appeal in the media, said that he did not act “with the intention of generating benefits for anyone interested in referrals or other processes “, But rather to” manage situations that, due to their nature and the sensitivity of the context in which they occurred, required “their intervention.
In addition to the list of defendants, soccer businessman José Veiga, who was indicted earlier this year for allegedly paying undue advantages to judge Rui Rangel, allegedly in exchange for promises of influence in judicial decisions that acquitted or benefited Veiga.
In the bank of the accused, according to the prosecution, there are also Octávio Correia (bailiff), Ruy Moura, Fernando Pagamim Tavares (manager of SLB and former vice president), Jorge Rodrigues Barroso, José Bernardo Martins (lawyer), Bernardo André Proença Santos Martins , Nuno Miguel Proença da Costa Ferreira, Albertino Figueira, Rita Filipe and Bruna Amaral (Rui Rangel’s ex-girlfriends), Elsa Marília Correia and Oscar Juan Hernandez Lopez.
In a statement, the PGR said that the filing was determined by lack of evidentiary evidence in relation to one of the defendants and that, to date, the appointment of two assistants has been admitted.
Investigation focused on three judges
The investigation began at the STJ in September 2016 and the investigation focused on the activity carried out by three TRL judges who used these functions to obtain undue advantages, for themselves or for third parties. “Advantages that were later hidden by the respective beneficiaries,” says the PGR in a statement.
Judge Rui Rangel was designated as the mastermind of an alleged corruption scheme to vitiate the distribution of resources on the Lisbon List. According to the investigation, Rui Rangel received about one million euros in payments to benefit various stakeholders.
The investigation led by the MP was carried out, at first, by the National Unit for the Fight against Corruption (UNCC) of the Judicial Police (PJ) and, later, by a mixed team made up of the UNCC and the Tax Authority and Customs (AT), Address. of Finance in Lisbon.
The equity and financial investigation was carried out by the Asset Recovery Office (GRA) and the asset management was delivered to the Asset Management Office (GAB / IGFEJ).
In January 2018, five company registration orders, 26 vehicle registration orders, 18 home searches, three searches in law firms and one registry in the TRL were carried out. Subsequently, four more searches were carried out.
89 people were interviewed as witnesses.
“Through a mechanism of mutual legal assistance directed to the Kingdom of Spain, a Spanish citizen was constituted and interrogated as a defendant”, reveals the PGR, also stating that computer, accounting, financial and patrimonial expertise was performed on a wide universe of people and companies for an extended period of time.
The numerous computer skills were provided by the Telecommunications and Information Technology Unit (UCI) of the PJ. The accounting and financial expertise was in charge of the Financial and Accounting Expertise Unit (UPFC) of the Judicial Police.
“In terms of property and financial investigation, it was possible to verify the existence of advantages of the crime in the scope of the extended claim provided for in Law 5/2002, of January 11, as well as in the scope of the classic claim set forth in the Penal Code . Consequently, the incongruous patrimony was resolved and the declaration of loss of the instruments and advantages of the crime was promoted, ”adds the PGR.
Property of Rangel and Fátima Galante were arrested
The PGR also reveals that “to guarantee the payment of the benefits determined in the global amount of 1,525,488.84 euros, the property of those affected was required to be seized by declaring a claim.”
The Correio da Manhã reported on Wednesday that the assets of Judge Rui Rangel and ex-wife Fátima Galante were seized after Operation Lex. The Supreme Court ordered the confiscation of real estate, automobiles, and bank account balances. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, in order to guarantee the payment of the benefits calculated in the amount of more than 1.5 million euros, the seizure of the target’s assets was requested.
The MP also filed a claim for civil compensation on behalf of the State, AT, “requesting the joint conviction of three of the defendants in the payment of the total amount of 393,466.57 euros and of two other defendants in the payment of the amount of 81,089.35 euros. Amounts that correspond to the damages caused to the public treasury as a consequence of the lack of declaration of income tax related to the income of and related to the years 2012 to 2017 ”.
It is also revealed that the extraction of several certificates was opened for the opening of investigations and investigation of facts related to the accused in the process or of autonomous facts.
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