António Cotrim / Lusa
“Marques Mendes decided to do something unprecedented in Portugal in terms of transparency”, for “duty of scrutiny and because those who should not fear it” — but “scrutiny must be for everyone”.
Pressured in recent days, the presidential candidate Luís Marques Mendes released this Friday a list of 22 customers of his company, which provides services in consultancy, commentary and participation in conferences, and which includes the Famalicão construction company Alberto Couto Alves.
In a list sent to Lusa for their application, they are listed as clients of the company LS2MMLda., within the scope of strategic consultancy, the following: Alberto Couto Alves, SGPS, SA; the Portuguese Association of Energy Engineering Industries (APIEE); Atrys Portugal Centro Médico Avançado, SA, in Porto; Denominador Comum – Consultoria de Negócios, SA, headquartered in Póvoa de Lanhoso; and Painhas SA, based in Porto.
To Lusa, the campaign director, Duarte Marques, challenges the remaining candidates, “for the sake of transparency”, to disclose “everything that could give rise to conflicts of interest”.
Following an article in the magazine, according to which Marques Mendes as a consultant for Abreu Advogados and in the company LS2MM, Lda, the presidential candidate committed to publishing the list of his family company, after authorization from clients, but not from the law firm, as it would jeopardize professional secrecy.
His company’s list also includes, within the scope of conferences given by Marques Mendes: ARP – Associação Rodoviária de Transportes Pesados de Passageiros; association of McDonald’s Restaurants, Brandom – Comunicação, Imagem e Eventos, Lda; CBRE – Sociedade de Mediação Imobiliária, Lda; Cimpor – Serviços, SA; Eixo e Debate, Lda; El Circo del Marketing SL; Ger Imotion – Lda; GS1 Portugal; Markettividade – Marketing, communication and sales, Lda; Primavera – Business Software Solutions, SA; Rede Global, SA; Shopitur, SA; Tabaqueira II, SA; and Tedcom, Lda.
SIC Sociedade Independente de Comunicação, SA, appears on the list due to the comment space it maintained, as does Medipress Sc Jornalística e Editorial, Lda, in the scope of opinion articles.
Marques Mendes’ campaign director highlighted, in the written statement sent to Lusa, that the presidential candidate released this list “out of a duty of scrutiny and because those who should not should not fear”.
“He fulfilled what he promised”, he declared, stressing that “scrutiny must be for everyone”.
“This is scrutiny and it is correct. Another thing is insinuations coming from some other candidates, they only show desperation and low politics”, stated Duarte Marques, who said that “Marques Mendes decided to do something unprecedented in Portugal in terms of transparency: disclose the list of clients he worked with in his life”.
5 thousand euros per month for 6 years: whoever paid Marques Mendes didn’t remember that
An investigation by TVI and Nascer do Sol that Marques Mendes received five thousand euros per month from a construction company for consultancy services provided for six years and one monththrough two contracts: one from January 2010 lasting five years, and the other signed with the family company LS2MM in January 2015, which lasted 13 months.
The owner of the company ACA, when confronted with this information, initially said that he did not remember paying five thousand euros a month to Marques Mendes during that periodbut, later, he ended up confirming to TVI the existence of that contractual connection.
The Attorney General’s Office (PGR) announced this Friday that it will not open an inquiry or other investigation into presidential candidate Luís Marques Mendes after a anonymous report on contracts with a construction company due to the absence of “a fact capable of forming a crime”.
“The reception at DCIAP of an anonymous complaint, identical to the one that has been reproduced by the press, is confirmed. After analyzing the anonymous complaint and the attached documentation, it was verified that the information reported, with little detail, does not describe any concrete fact capable of forming a crime”, can be read in a response sent to Lusa by the PGR press office.
