José de Paula Brito, former president of the Estoi parish council for PSD, has been accused of “prevarication” – namely of rigging a tender for around €100,000-worth of renovations at the local market and parish council in December 2012.
A businessman from construction company João Marinho da Cruz (JMC) is also accused of prevarication, while the council’s former treasurer faces charges of embezzlement.
The illegal activity was apparently detected during an audit requested by Estoi’s current PS administration.
According to Faro’s DIAP (department of penal investigation), Brito conspired with a businessman from JMC so that the company would get the construction job.
To do this, JMC and Brito “intentionally obtained higher estimates from other companies” and then presented JMC’s as being the one with the “lowest price”.
All those accused are due to appear in court soon.
