Corruption scheme involved doctors and funeral homes. In some cases, the doctor José Moreno would have allowed his son, an olive grower, to issue certificates. “You don’t have to have so much work (…) it’s all dementia.”
Jose Morenoformer health delegate of Bragança, became the main accused in a process led by DIAP Regional do Porto, which accuses 13 people, including four doctors, three funeral directors and their respective managers, for crimes such as corruption, abuse of power and improper access to IT systems.
During the period investigated (2019 to 2021), certified deaths by cell phoneremotely, based only on information provided by funeral homes. Without examining the bodies or visiting the places, he attributed causes of death to “senile dementia” or “embolism”, demanding between 40 and 50 euros for each certificationa practice called “moderating fees”, advances this Sunday.
Moreno even certified deaths while on vacation in the Algarve. “She’s in her nineties, isn’t she? No need to have so much workthis is an embolism, these are the consequences of the femoral neck fracture and she was sick, wasn’t she? Of course, they say dementia, senile, you know? That’s what I’m going to put, passing 90 years old is all dementia and senile”, quotes the CM.
The same behavior was identified in Cristina Raposo, another health delegate, who also certified deaths remotely, including while in Slovakia.
“I sent the death certificate, see if you received it, that I am in Bratislava”, he wrote in a message in 2019.
The scheme involved issuing around 50 death certificates and travel guides without any in-person verification by doctors. In some cases, José Moreno allowed his son, who worked in olive farming, to use his credentials to issue official documents.
Estes Services were supposed to be free, but doctors charged illegally, sharing profits with funeral homes Brigantina, Senhor do Bonfim and Peixoto, also defendants in the case.
One of the most disturbing episodes occurred in October 2020, when a woman was found dead in Vimioso under suspicious circumstances. Despite appeals from the GNR and the Judiciary Police, José Moreno refused to go to the scene. Even when the military took the body to the health center, the doctor refused to examine the corpse.
José Moreno faces 30 crimes of corruption for an illegal act, one of abuse of power and another five related to improper access. Cristina Raposo is responsible for 21 crimes of corruption and one of abuse of power. Cristina Raposo had 200 thousand euros and Fernando Andrade 133 thousand euros not justified. The Public Prosecutor’s Office requests that these amounts be reverted to the State.
Doctors Fernando Andrade and Domingos Borges are accused of a significantly smaller number of crimes. All defendants are currently free.
