The former president of the Institute of Registrars and Notaries, António Figueiredo, has asked the judge in Operation Labyrinth to drop the investigation into his behaviour claiming that he has not been informed of many of the charges included in his indictment.
Judge Carlos Alexandre starts the instruction process for the case on Tuesday, March 8th and is to begin by questioning António Figueiredo about the dozen crimes of which he is accused which include corruption, diverting public funds and money laundering.
Figueiredo, currently under house arrest after an uncomfortable spell in prison, said that some of the facts contained in the indictment were a "complete surprise"
One of the surprises is that he is suspected of being an invisible partner of a company with interests in 'an arrangement' between the Portuguese Ministry of Justice and an Angolan businessman.
Rui Patrício, Figuerido’s lawyer, said "Never before had the accused been confronted with the existence of such a company,” and hopes to get his client let off due to this technicality.
The February 2015 arrests of 11 suspected of milking the Golden Visa system for their own benefit, threw the scheme into disarray with potential applicants said to have been put off buying property in Portugal due to the corruption surrounding the Golden Visa process.
New rules were introduced to tighten up the Golden Visa scheme but these caused such a backlog that many applicants have given up in dismay.
