50 year old Algarve scammer is on the run
A previously convicted 50 year old man was arrested again in the Algarve, but cut his electronic bracelet off and is now on the run.
The man, detained by the Judicial Police of the Algarve for an undetermined number of scams against the elderly, is reported as a fugitive. The suspect was under house arrest, controlled through electronic surveillance, but, according to Portuguese newspapers, he cut the bracelet and disappeared.
He had already served a prison sentence for having joined a gang of robbers that made several elderly people from the Algarve and Alentejo their victims.
The fraudster was arrested on April 30th, at his home in the Coruche area, near Lisbon. The evidence obtained by the PJ showed that the man and other accomplices, approached an undetermined number of elderly people for months, in various parts of the Algarve and Alentejo with the intention to scam them.
The scheme involved pretending to be a Social Security employee or bank employee and to tell victims that some banknotes would no longer be in circulation. He asked them, therefore, to hand over the money, saying he would return afterwards with new 'current' banknotes.
The pile of complaints received by police led to the opening of an investigation, which led to the arrest of the suspect.
One of the other members of the group, who was at large for 22 years, has now been caught and will soon be tried for three crimes of theft and one of aggravated theft.
€5 coin will come in to circulation next week
Yesterday, the Bank of Portugal (BP) announced that a new €5 coin will enter circulation in Portugal, from June 1st.
The coin can only be used in Portugal and will be called "Miragaia longicollum". Produced in cupronickel alloy, it will be part of the "Dinosaurs of Portugal" series.
On the reverse of the coin features an image of a dinosaur fossil, the value of the coin and the national coat of arms, as well as inscriptions that read "Portugal" and "2023".
On the front of the coin appears a dinosaur and the scientific name of the species, which gives its name to the coin.
Distribution will only be carried out through “credit institutions, Banco de Portugal treasuries and Imprensa Nacional stores”, said BP. Only 30,000 of these coins will be issued.
3rd day of searches for Maddie resume today at the Arade dam
The police searches for Madeleine McCann were resumed this Thursday morning at the Arade dam, in Silves, after the authorities decided to prolong the searches, which should have ended on Wednesday.
In the first two days of the investigations launched on Tuesday, there have been no signs or elements reported that could help unravel the disappearance of Maddie McCann in May 2007.
The researchers returned to the area this morning, also accompanied by forestry sappers equipped with equipment to clear areas of undergrowth and vegetation on one of the banks of the basin of the Arade dam.
The searches have taken place on the ground by several teams of operatives, accompanied by investigators from the Portuguese, British and German police.
Despite the attempts made by Lusa News Agency, the Judiciary Police (PJ) have not yet been available to provide information about the course of the investigations.
The young British girl disappeared from a tourist resort in Praia da Luz, where she was spending holidays with her parents and siblings, about 50kms from the location where these searches are taking place.
The searches were requested by the German police, suspecting the involvement of a German citizen in the disappearance of the child, who allegedly spent a lot of time at the Arade dam, Silves.
These investigations, 16 years after Maddie's disappearance, are being monitored by the London Metropolitan Police and the Judiciary Police, with the support of the Republican National Guard, the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority and the Silves Volunteer Firefighters.
Mum complains that her son was neglected by Faro Hospital
Mother of 7 year old Rodrigo, Andreia Estrela, who lives in Olhão, tells about her anger at the alleged neglect of her son's broken arm by a doctor at the hospital in Faro.
“I heard my son scream and I didn't hesitate and entered the doctors room. I was amazed when I saw that the doctor had 'removed the external fixation rods' from my son just 11 days after the operation, when it was supposed to be between three and four weeks later.”
Andreia tells how it all happened: “my son had an accident doing sports on the 28th of April. He was transported by INEM to the hospital in Faro (CHUA) where he was seen in triage by a pediatrician and then referred to orthopedics. We were lucky enough to see a doctor who was available and who followed my sons progress until he was operated on for a level 3 supracondylar fracture”, she explains.
The mother continues, “the next day, in the afternoon, my son was accompanied in the operating room by the orthopedic doctor who has followed us since we entered the hospital. The operation went very well. On the 30th of April my son was discharged and the doctor pointed out that within a maximum period of 10 days we would have an appointment to do a control X-ray”.
On May 3rd he received a letter from the hospital to attend an outpatient appointment on May 11th at 9:15 am.
On the 11th, and already at the consultation, the mother says that “the doctor sent my son to the nursing room, the plaster splint was then removed, from there they proceeded to perform an X-ray without the splint and nothing holding the arm in place. After the X-ray was done, we returned to the doctor's office”.
The parents were “amazed” when the doctor transferred the child back to the nursing room and told Rodrigo to lie down on a bed, Andreia asked for justification, “the doctor shook my hand and invited me to leave because 'I was very nervous '. It's normal, a mother is a mother. There was only my husband left with our son and the doctor”.
The mother says that “that's when I hear my son scream. I didn't hesitate and entered. I was amazed when I saw that the doctor had 'removed the rods' from my son after 11 days of operation when it was supposed to be between three and four weeks later, according to protocol rules and indications of the doctor who operated on him. That doctor turned to Rodrigo and told him to 'drop his arm and go back to his normal life, as before”.
The parents were not satisfied with what had happened, “my husband and I found everything very strange. We went to the doctor's office to ask the doctor if he was going to do an X-ray after the irons were removed, and if he could provide us with clarification, give us some paperwork or if Rodrigo had to undergo physiotherapy. The doctor's answer was that none of that was necessary because everything was fine, but he gave us a paper 'in case something goes wrong you can come to me'. This 'consultation' did not last more than two minutes”.
The family went home, but they were always reticent that something wasn't right. Rodrigo couldn't move his arm, and the area where he had the fracture was swollen and dark in color. The mother decided to wait four days to see if there was any improvement, but there was not.
“On the 16th of May I went with my son to the emergency room at the private hospital in the Algarve. There, we were seen in the triage by a pediatrician and referred to the orthopedics service, where Rodrigo was seen by an orthopedist who did an X-ray and saw that the arm was fractured, a fracture that with the removal of the irons before of time led to my son having to be operated on again, urgently”, said Andreia.
Andreia is sking for justice, “Rodrigo was operated on last Thursday. The arm had to be opened, they had to 'break the bone' to put everything back in place, which will lead to scars and longer recovery times. This whole process could have been avoided. I ask that justice be done for the physical and psychological suffering that this child and us parents have faced.”
