A Loulé court clerk is among four people arrested this week in a new investigation into corruption.
According to reports, the PJ directorate of the south, has been probing a scam involving the sale of information to businessmen who then went on to con banks into lending them money for the purchase and sale of cars.
In all, “close to a million euros in loans” were achieved – and when the banks went after their money, they found the cars involved had either been scrapped, or never existed.
How Loulé clerk Jorge Gomes may have been involved is now something that will have to be proved in court, but clearly there was enough evidence to back his arrest by DIAP (the department of penal action and investigation) on Monday.
Tabloid Correio da Manhã claims Gomes sold information for €2000-a-pop that helped “interested parties” clinch properties at bargain-basement prices.
Monday’s arrests followed 16 searches in Lisbon and the Algarve. There are apparently more “arguidos” (official defendants) beyond the four men that have been arrested.
