A woman and two men, “strongly indicted for crimes of corruption, active and passive, and receiving undue advantage”, were detained by the Judiciary Police, following searches carried out Tuesday at the Urban Planning services of the Torres Novas Chamber.
In a statement, the Judiciary Police (PJ) refers that the operation, which was given the name “Build First”, was carried out by the Criminal Investigation Department of Leiria, with five house search warrants being fulfilled, two search warrants not house arrest and three arrest warrants, issued by the Department of Investigation and Criminal Action of the Public Ministry of Tomar.
According to the PJ, the investigation began in the summer of 2021, following an anonymous complaint, involving licensing for new construction and property requalification, with “manipulation of prior actions for compliance with processes, during the planned inspections” .
Two of the detainees, a senior and another middle management of the municipality, “violating their functional duties”, obtained, “by that way, financial benefits”, indicates the PJ.
“The investigation carried out allowed the collection of strong evidence of the facts denounced that culminated in the issuance of warrants by the competent Judicial Authorities”, reads the note.
The statement also mentions that the three detainees, aged 68, 63 and 62, will be present for the first judicial interrogation and application of coercive measures.
A source from the Câmara de Torres Novas (Santarém) told Lusa today that the Judiciary Police spent the entire day of Tuesday at the municipality’s Urban Planning services, as part of a process involving two municipal officials and an external designer.