The head of the tourist board for Porto and the North, Melchior Moreira, one of five suspects in an alleged series of scams involving the public procurement system, is being held in preventive custody.
Of the remaining four defendants, Isabel Castro, operational director of 'Turismo do Porto e Norte de Portugal,' was suspended from duties and banned from having contact with the other defendants, as was Gabriela Escobar, a lawyer working for the tourist board.
The five people were detained by the Judicial Police last Thursday in Operation Ether, which included searches at the tourist board head office and various company headquarters.
The Police suspect that direct contracts, signed off in the last two to three years, worth over €5 million were inflated and on occasion were for services that were never provided.
This scam favoured a group of companies which always seem to get the contracts. The police have listed corruption, misrepresentation, falsification of documents, influence peddling, undue receipt of advantage and economic participation in procurement procedures on a list of charges.
The police mounted 11 searches in Porto, Gaia, Matosinhos, Lamego, Viseu and Viana do Castelo and used 50 officers, including computer, financial and accounting experts.
Manuela Couto, manager of W Global Communication (former Mediana), is banned from contacting anyone related to the case, plus he has to lodge a €40,000 bond. José Agostinho, from Tomi World in Viseu also is banned from contact and has to lodge a €50,000 deposit.
Jorge Magalhães, Vice-President of the northern tourist board, said on Thursday, October 25, that the future of the body will be decided in a meeting to be held "soon" and the replacement of the board's governing body could not be ruled out.
Held in custody, pending trial, Melchior Moreira, Presidente do Turismo do Porto e Norte
