The former mayor of Tavira, and latterly Faro, finally has received his sentence - four and a half years in prison, suspended for the same period.
Correia had been found guilty by Faro court of misusing his political office by authorising the construction of three houses and one swimming pool in a National Ecological Reserve (REN) area within the Tavira municipality.
Added to these four charges was another pool construction for which he was found not guilty.
At the end of the sentence reading in Faro court today, Correia was in combative form as ever, confirming to journalists that he will appeal, adding that the case had dragged on for eight years yet not one of the properties in question has ever been declared illegal, the houses do not exist and their building licenses expired long ago.
The permissions were authorised during Correia's third term of office as Tavira mayor between 2005 and 2009, when against the technical advice from his own engineers, he granted the projects in places "where construction was absolutely forbidden."
Correia said of the accusations that he never issued a building permit for the properties in question as the projects were still on the drawing board, but still he has been found guilty of contravening REN protection laws.
The Faro judge, Fernando Marques da Silva, was clear that just because a property does not get built, this does not mean that a crime has not taken place.
The judge at least concluded that Correia had not benefitted personally from approving these projects but that the people who submitted the projects will or could have done.
Correia has fought these accusations for years and still reckons he is right to claim that he has done nothing wrong, or nothing illegal anyway.
Comments
Well there is the small matter of the three apartment buildings, wonderfully situated on the east side bluff of the Rio Azeca, allegedly owned by the ever-populist mayor/family, allegedly built without the appropriate and proper consents.
All three still empty/unsold, at least eight years after completion.
All this info does not allegedly come from me, but from some informed residents facing this prison-like monstrosity living on the west side bluff of the Rio Azeca.
There is also the matter of the Faro Camara money/access/resources used to defend the ever-populist Mayor against his accusers when he was Mayor of Faro.
Let's not forget his chequered career and the earlier events occurring in Lisboa, leading up to his relocation and appearance in Tavira.
Yes and there is equal room for improvement in Northern Europe too.
I know Eng Correia personally and I adminre and respect him very much because he is NOT behave himself as "a politician" but as an interested and very helpful man. And this unfortunately is the price he has to pay for that.
But how many hundreds of mayors across Portugal have been taking bungs for just this 'outine planning permission' scam ? Being outline planning permission the fall back for the Municipal was always to point to the small print. That the applicant (usually foreign) must now get the relevant Ministries permission to proceed. Never aware of this due to dodgy architects and builders not explaining it - how many foreigners then pressed the 'start button' for the build? Who are now left with an expensive 'pig in a poke' which may never be licensable or have any chance of compensation.
Identical to the Southern Spanish bulldozing of Brit. homes.
The EU in 2016 ! Is improvement in Southern European public administration at all possible?
If we scale up the punishment, Desidério Silva and Manuel da Luz would never get out of prison. But of course, although they are major malefactors, they have never trodden on the corns of their party bosses, and so will probably get away with massive swindles.
The tragedy is that Correia was (and probably still is) the type of manager who could not tolerate the foot-dragging of government ministers. And he fell out with that scorpion Miguel Relvas.