Police carry out raids in Kamov helicopter corruption scandal

Paul 19 February 2016

firehelicopter The Judicial Police raided the National Civil Protection Authority’s offices in Carnaxide, Oeiras, the aerodrome at Ponte de Sor, Portalegre, and the headquarters of the Everjets aviation company at Oporto airport late last month as the Kamov helicopter scandal increses in complexity.

Officers are looking into the Kamov fire-fighting helicopter deal where corruption, falsification and obstruction by those involved is building into another full-blown scandal involving public contracts and taxpayers' money.

According to the Attorney General's office, "The facts under investigation are related to international contracts for the acquisition of aircraft for fighting fires" and has led to raids and searches at private properties and offices.

The Judicial Police have made "about a dozen searches" in the Lisbon, Oporto and Portalegre, in "households, businesses and at public authority offices."

The Judicial Police say that operation Crossfire is aimed at "obtaining evidence relating to the procurement and maintenance of aircraft for fire-fighting," including the mostly grounded Kamov helicopter fleet where the contract long has been under suspicion.

The searches led to the seizure of "several documents and material evidence of interest," and was attending by a judicial magistrate, four prosecutors and Judicial Police corruption experts.

Operation Crossfire relates to various lease agreements for the operation and maintenance of helicopters to fight forest fires, including Russian-made Kamov helicopters based in Ponte de Sor.

The investigation springs from several complaints from companies in the aeronautical sector which have protested at alleged irregularities in the tendering process conducted by the National Civil Protection Authority.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs confirmed the presence of the police at the premises of the Civil Protection Authority and stressed that staff has been fully cooperative with the authorities.

Everjets, which also runs the new Aero Vip Portimão to Bragança air service, confirmed that its offices were searched last year. It had won the tender to operate and maintain the Kamov helicopters with the lowest bid of €46 million.

Everjets "reiterates its readiness to provide all the information to the authorities," which its management says it has done, so far.

Days prior to the formalization of the juicy State contract, in February last year Everjets was bought by the owner of Bragaparques, Domingos Névoa, who had been convicted of corruption in the Parque Mayer case.

Last November, the former Minister of Internal Affairs Miguel Macedo, later accused in the Golden Visa corruption scandal, allegedly sent confidential details of the tender proposals for the operation and maintenance of the six Kamov helicopters, to his friend Jaime Gomes some three months before the tender went public.

According to the prosecutors, Jaime Gomes maintained relations with the aeronautical group Faasa - that was subcontracted by Everjets.

The Kamov saga rolls on after the grounding of the entire fleet in May last year, due to mechanical problems under the Everjets maintenance contract.

This month the Secretary of the Interior, Jorge Gomes, said there were two helicopters that were not in service but that they would be repaired "with the utmost urgency" in order to get them ready for fire duty this summer.

Of the fleet of six Kamov helicopters bought by the State, only three currently are fit to fly.

Besides the two inoperable Kamovs, a third crashed while fighting a fire in Ourem in 2012.

It seems again that when public money is in play, corruption swirls, substandard kit is procured, loosely worded contracts favour the commercial sector and minister and other state employees see opportunity for self-enrichment at the expense of the public purse.