Three former secretaries of state have this far been demonised by the Galpgate ‘scandal’ – the uproar that followed revelations that oil company Galp paid thousands to charter private planes to take political figures and sundry others to France to watch games featuring Portugal’s national team during the Euro 2016 championships (click here).
But according to tabloid Correio da Manhã the men are just the tip of the iceberg.
Galp has apparently got a list of hundreds of MPs and “other responsible public figures” who have enjoyed the company’s ‘football freebie’ plane trips going back 10 years.
The list includes politicians of all persuasions, borough mayors and State officials.
It is common knowledge that even Algarve PSD MP Cristóvão Norte enjoyed one of last year’s trips – though he has assured reporters that the circumstances were “different” in as much as he and his wife were guests of a Galp employee, as opposed to the company itself.
CM claims Galp furnished the Public Ministry with its list almost a year ago, when Galpgate became the subject of a probe to see if beneficiaries were guilty of the crime of ‘receiving undue advantage’ (click here).
The paper claims the list may “open the door” to a much wider investigation, going back to the trips taken since 2010.
Galp has been quoted as “not making any commentaries”.
As CM explained last year, the issue is particularly ‘hot’ as Galp owes hundreds of millions to the government in back taxes.
