Fraud has wheedled its way into Lisbon’s historical monuments.
The Polícia Judiciária’s national unit against corruption is investigating a ticket scam at the Torre de Belém and Jerónimos Monastery that may well have been going on for years. Suspicions were reported to the police authorities by the Direção-Geral do Património Cultural (DGPC), the directorate-general for cultural heritage, when it became aware of “irregularities” in the accounts of the two monuments under its supervision.
Visitors buying tickets would not have been able to know whether their tickets were ‘real’ or part of the scam, explained Expresso newspaper.
Investigators are now trying to find out whether the fraud was isolated to these two monuments – the third and fourth most visited in Portugal last year – or whether it is a scourge that has spread to other corners of Portugal’s cultural heritage.
For now, 10 staff members have been suspended while police continue their inquiries. If prosecuted, the workers will face the crime of “infidelity” (relating to the intentional causing of damages to the state) which carries a fine and/or up to three years in prison.
