A Bank of Portugal employee was arrested this Saturday at Lisbon's Humberto Delgado Airport, suspected of involvement in the Nexus operation, a case that spans crimes including passive corruption, economic participation in business, undue receipt of advantage, document forgery, and abuse of power.
The Judicial Police (PJ) confirmed the arrest occurred upon the suspect's arrival in Portugal. Identified as David Gonçalves, the employee was on vacation during initial raids and was detained upon his return. He is set to appear before the Porto Criminal Investigation Court on Monday.
This arrest follows the detention of six individuals earlier in the week, linked to corruption and fraud in the procurement of IT systems for universities and public schools, funded by the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR).
The Nexus operation, the first in Portugal led by the European Public Prosecutor's Office in coordination with the Porto Regional Department of Investigation and Penal Action, targets a criminal scheme accused of obtaining privileged information in public and private procurement processes through illicit advantages.
Suspects include administrators and employees of a tech company, a concessionaire employee, and a public servant, allegedly part of a systemic and organized scheme that undermined market rules and the proper administration of funds.
Adjudications under scrutiny amount to at least 20 million euros, with 4.6 million seized to cover estimated damages. The investigation began after reports of irregularities in public IT and cybersecurity procurement processes by a northern public higher education institution, later confirmed by the University of Porto as being under investigation for cartelization in IT equipment purchases.
The European Public Prosecutor's Office highlighted that the contracts in question were awarded to a national business group and related companies specializing in IT hardware and software import, export, and commercialization.
Over 300 inspectors and experts participated in 103 searches conducted on Tuesday as part of the Nexus operation.
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