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The Judiciary Police arrested a lawyer and a businessman who are linked to the daughter of the president of Equatorial Guinea on suspicion of fraud with millions of euros in European support for a pellet factory in Guarda.
The fraud would have involved obtaining support from the European Union (EU) for the installation of a pellet factory (a type of wood grain for fireplaces) in Guarda.
The installation it only worked for a year with financing from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
The defendants are accused of corruption, fraud in obtaining subsidies, tax fraud and money laundering, says the PJ in a statement. They will have harmed the State and the EU by around seven million euros.
The detained businessman manages a company that is owned by daughter of the President of Equatorial GuineaFrancisca Jimenez, and which is based at (ZFM).
The daughter of the Ecuadorian dictator will use this company to launder capital obtained illegally in her country.
In 2018, the news that the daughter of the president of Equatorial Guinea had worth 1.5 million euros through its companies based at ZFM.
“Criminal plan” went through several schemes
Named “Cash Flow” operationthe investigation was carried out by the National Anti-Corruption Unit (UNCC), leading to the execution of warrants in several districts on the continent, in Madeira and also in Spain.
Three defendants were appointed, including the lawyer João Luís Gonçalves and the businessman Carlos Couto, who manages the business of his daughter. has governed Equatorial Guinea since 1979.
Obiang came to power after deposing his uncle in a coup d’état and his government has been marked by corruption accusations and of violation of human rights.
The UNCC investigation found that “to accomplish the criminal plan“, the suspects will have implemented several schemes.
The suspects will have inflated expensescelebrated simulated contracts and omitted the purchase of logistical equipment from a company based in a country with privileged taxation, according to the PJ.
“All these actions aimed to present a project with increased coststhus increasing the possibilities of benefiting from a higher incentive”, adds the PJ statement.
However, “given their illegality, the expenses presented could not be considered eligible and, consequently, the financial incentive could not have been granted”, explains the Judiciary.
False and incomplete information
The investigation found that from the preparation of the application until its submission, the false, inaccurate and incomplete informationrelating to important facts for granting the subsidy.
It was also possible to determine that the suspects have shares in several Portuguese and foreign commercial companies, with strong evidence that they used the banking system to circulate funds from accounts in Luxembourg, Morocco, United Arab Emirates, Spain and Portugal, to bank accounts of themselves, their family members and associated companies.
The detainees will be present for their first judicial interrogation at the Central Criminal Instruction Court (TCIC) in Lisbon, for the application of coercive measures, which can go up to preventive detention.
