The former mayor of Tavira and then of Faro formally has been accused of the crime of malfeasance* in public office due to urban licensing irregularities in 2007, when he was president of Tavira council.
The charges have been filed by the Department of Investigation and Penal Action in Évora and appear on its website, although not mentioning Correia by name, referring to ‘a former mayor of Tavira council.’
Correia was in charge of Tavira council between 1999 and 2009, and promptly then was elected as president of Faro council.
The entry says that the Judicial Police have finished their investigation relating to matters of urban licensing and on April 9, 2015 charges were filed against the former mayor.
Correia declined to make any comment on the case when contacted today by news agency Lusa .
In 2012 while mayor of Faro, Correia was sentenced by the Supreme Administrative Court to relinquish his mandate due to planning violations while at Tavira council relating to the licensing of private building works in 2007 which contravened Algarve's Land Management Plan and Tavira’s Municipal Master Plan.
When running Faro council, Correia went through a series of court processes, suspensions, an absence and a final reappearance up until the council elections in September 2013 when Rogério Bacalhao took over as mayor.
Correia spent June 2013 at home while suspended, pending the examination of an appeal as to his conviction for loss of office in which he said that the facts that led to this conviction were contradictory.
On leaving Faro council, Correia was handed the job of running the Algarve's waste collection Algar in February 2014 where, much to the disappointment of local media, he has been keeping out of trouble.
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*Malfeasance: 'illegal or dishonest activity especially by a public official or a corporation'