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GNR grab 1,730 vehicles in 'seized car' scam

gnr3GNR agents have seized thousands of documents, more than 1,700 vehicles and other goods totaling €44 million.

There have been 30 arrests in Operation Medusa which is investigating the buying of seized vehicles and their subsequent sale and the use of 'scam company insolvencies.'

The Fiscal Action Unit of the GNR made 91 searches at houses and at law and accountancy firms’ offices while making 30 people official defendants for criminal association, qualified embezzlement, credit fraud, tax fraud, qualified tax fraud, money laundering and forgery of documents.

Operation Medusa focused on Lisbon, Santarém, Setúbal and Faro and looked into the purchase and sale of motor vehicles involving a group of about 30 individuals and 70 legal professional who since 2013 have been selling off vehicles that have been seized in lieu of debts to the state.

The people involved in today’s operation were from the GNR and the Tax and Customs Authority, plus two judges and two prosecutors who participated in the searches.

Documents and computer records were seized plus 1,449 cars and trade vehicles, four guns, 70 gold pieces, 20 computers, 44 mobile phones, 10 'tablets' and 50 watches with a presumed value of €44 million" according to the GNR.

The illegality 'surrounds the buying and selling of repossesed vehicles along with vehicles subject to seizure orders whereby the assets are part of insilvency proceedings of third party companies.'

It is known that banks and creditors have been affected and that the scam has had a financial impact on 'many families.'

The police will reveal nothing more, except that some of the vehicles "may have been destined for the African and the South American markets," according to the GNR spokesman.

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Comments  

+1 #3 Rog Milward 2015-07-06 08:59
What is so depressingly familiar about this is that it will have been an open secret since the first that 'if you want a rather nice Beemer or Merc then Alberto down at storage can 'arrange' it'.'

This story only surfacing probably because some geezer found the money to pay Financas the following day and went to collect his Bentley. Gone missing already !

And let us wait a year and there will be a 2nd investigation into what happened to the vehicles and valuables 'seized' in this 1st investigation ! Which have gone missing a 2nd time.

This is Portugal .... !
+1 #2 Daphne 2015-07-06 08:41
This open sewer that is Portugal !

Nothing will get better in Portugal until someone has the bright idea of policing southerners with northerners and vice versa.

Mixing up the gangs of bent judges, police, public prosecutors etc etc Diluting them. Until Portugal gets a grip on this 'end to end' illegality - treat judicial and police investigations as though dealing with terrorists. In total secrecy.

Not the current circus where we know everybody involved is so bent we know what the authorities are doing today and everyday - before they do it ! Because its been in the papers !

And PLEASE. If anything of value ie over 1.000 euros is involved in anything by the 'authorities' - call in the Scandinavians ! The Portuguese has not been born yet who can be trusted around anything greater.

They fail every time.
+7 #1 Karel 2015-07-05 23:04
It is a public secret that there is a big swindle with these seized cars and that only "insiders" are able to make the first choice in the "harvest". Maybe you remember the case of Socrates' BMW that had been seized ILLEGALLY (meaning: as they wanted that specific car, they simply "seized" it. In civilised countries one calls this PREMEDITATED THEFT . And of course they had to restitute the car + "a nice compensation". One can ask which is the biggest circus today: is it Greece or is it Portugal ?

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