As Portugal’s General Attorney (PGR) confirms that the case involving the Prime Minister in backhander allegations has been archived, PM Passos Coelho has denied the “derogatory” claims that he had pocketed €150,000 when prohibited from earning more than his parliamentary salary in the late 90s, but has refused access to his bank records.
During the first bimonthly debate of the new political calendar on Friday (September 26), the PM guaranteed that the only money he ever received as president of non-governmental organisation CPCC – affiliated with services company Tecnoforma – was for “expenses” such as “business lunches and trips” and not for his own pocket.
And while opposition leader António José Seguro says the only way the PM can prove his innocence is by allowing access to his bank records, Passos Coelho refuses to be subjected to a “banking striptease”, in his own words.
He said that it would mean people “rummaging through his personal life” and that he is entitled to his privacy. “My life couldn’t be any more transparent,” said Passos Coelho, adding that all income and property he owns is declared (to the tax authorities).
Furthermore, the PM stressed that the “anonymous tip-off” that authorities received relating to his alleged illegal payments from Tecnoforma has already been archived by Portugal’s PGR.
But Seguro is far from convinced. In his opinion, for as long as Passos Coelho refuses access to his bank records, then he “shouldn’t deserve the confidence of the Portuguese people”.
The subject came into the limelight last week when national weekly magazine Sábado alleged that an anonymous tip-off had prompted criminal investigators at DCIAP to delve into allegations that Passos Coelho had received regular backhander bungs for his work as president of an NGO designed to get EC funding for services company Tecnoforma.
The “illegal” payments were allegedly made between 1997 and 1999, claimed Sábado.
Público newspaper also followed the story up, maintaining its journalists have also been on the trail of “backhander” allegations for years, repeatedly pressing Passos Coelho for information.
As the paper explained, the mere fact that Passos Coelho was a “deputado em exclusividade” (not entitled to receive money other than his State salary) meant that any payments made to him would, in effect, constitute backhanders.
