Ten days after a Braga lawyer blew the whistle on crooked colleagues (almost all female) who are ‘dedicated to a form of parallel justice’ in order to wrestle bad debts for their clients, the Porto branch of the nation’s Law Association has ordered an investigation, stressing that it is too early for ‘generalised accusations, without names or faces’ which, until proven, simply affect lawyers’ dignity.
The controversy developed from the disturbing case of two Braga lawyers (both men) arrested for the murder of businessman João Paulo Fernandes (click here) and for their involvement in a scheme of “recovery of bad debts”.
Braga lawyer João Maglhães went on air (and in print) after the arrests to say that there was a network of “powerful female lawyers” who dominated the recovery of bad debts in Braga, using violence.
National tabloid Correio da Manhã adds that the violent methods used by Braga’s enforcement mafia has already resulted in “tens of complaints” at the city’s Public Ministry.
