The Judicial Police force struck again on Thursday Oct 3rd with officers involved in Operation Zeus arresting five people and classifying a further 40 as official suspects in a swoop on Portuguese Air Force bases, houses and offices of businesses that have food supply contracts with the military.
About 400 police from various divisions were involved in the widespread search at the various Air Force facilities in an operation into corruption that is said to have cost the taxpayer around €10 million over the past two years.
The Attorney General's Office gave the press some details of a case which started two years ago and its spokesman confirmed that warrants had been issued backed up by evidence of "bribery, and the forgery of documents."
The Judicial Police are holding “so far, five men for the crimes of bribery and accepting bribes for illegal acts and document forgery."
According to RTP, the investigation has the full support of the Air Force's 'Top Brass,' including the current and former Chiefs of Staff. Those arrested include a Major, a Captain and NCOs involved with mess halls along with suppliers of food to the military.
According to TVI, about 30% of the money in the budgets to supply Air Force messes has been filched over the years in a scheme involving the purchase of fictitious supplies and goods with overpayments later being shared out between suppliers and military personnel.
"Suppliers would deliver certain amounts of food, but the invoice value at the end of each month would be about three times that of the goods actually delivered. The difference between the amount invoiced and the actual products supplied would be divided up between those involved," added the State Prosecutor.
According to the Judicial Police, the scam may have cost the State as much as €10 million.
The searches concentrated on sites in Greater Lisbon, Beja and Leiria, "In the course of 180 searches, taking place simultaneously at 12 military bases and at 15 companies and several homes, large amounts of money were seized which can be assumed to be the proceeds of crime, as well as other interesting evidence.”
The spokesman for the Air Force, Colonel Rui Roque, said that the chain of command was aware of the police operation and is providing "full transparency and cooperation in the ongoing actions."
Rui Roque said that the searches started today at about 10:00 at ten Air Force units on the mainland.
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