Minister of Internal Administration Miguel Macedo announced his resignation tonight (Sunday). The writing was on the wall following the ‘golden visa’ scandal involving corruption and money laundering allegations, now under investigation.
Addressing the nation, Macedo said that although he had no connection whatsoever with the current dealings being investigated, he felt there were no longer the conditions for him to continue in government. Television commentators said the minister felt his “authority and credibility had been diminished”.
It is reported that Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho tried to dissuade him from his plans to resign but his efforts were in vain. Miguel Macedo was unable to take the pressure that resulted from the arrests of several high-ranking members of the state, some of whom he considered friends, such as the former secretary-general for the environment, Albertina Gonçalves, also his business partner in a law firm.
As the Resident reported on Thursday, the high-level corruption scandal involving the golden visa programme came to light when 150 police officers mounted a huge search operation in various points around the country.
A total of 11 people have so far been detained, including the national director of SEF (the Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras) Manuel Jarmela Palos, the president of the notary institute António Figueiredo and his wife Maria António Anes, the former secretary-general of the Justice Ministry.
The scandal centres on facilitating Golden Visas for applicants, overwhelmingly from China, who would not otherwise have qualified for them. It is believed a “platform” was set up in Macau, specifically designed to guarantee applications on the payment of backhanders. Applicants centred their attention on property investment – to the point that house prices were grossly inflated, both in Lisbon and the Algarve.
What alerted authorities was the lack of investment in job creation, which was one of the cornerstones of the programme.
The idea given by the government, which has presented the Golden Visa programme as a “success of economic diplomacy”, was that investors would stimulate the economy – either by creating jobs or buying property.
