Diamond gate.. ?
The Mint said today that it did not evaluate a “supposed diamond” found in the Presidency of the Funchal Chamber and stated that it only certifies the authenticity and legality of precious metals.
The clarification from the National Press-Casa da Moeda (INCM) comes after it was reported in the media that the diamond found in the office of the former mayor and defendant Pedro Calado is real and that, according to an assessment by the INCM, it would be worth 50 thousand euros.
The Mint indicates that “no evaluation of diamonds was requested from INCM, nor of any precious stones or gemological materials”.
Furthermore, it explains that “this type of evaluation is not part of the competences and responsibilities of the INCM Assay Unit, where only precious metals are certified, in terms of their authenticity and legal touch, through rigorous expertise and laboratory tests”.
“INCM never assigns any financial or monetary value to the pieces it evaluates, taking into account that this value is subjective and may depend on several factors, such as the artistic work, antiquity or historical value, among others”, he adds.
According to the Casa da Moeda, the professionals qualified to evaluate precious stones or gemological materials are “evaluators of articles with precious metals and gemological materials or even, in the case of diamonds, experts-classifiers-evaluators of rough diamonds, which are only titled by INCM for the independent exercise of their activity”, as provided for in the law.
The precious stone was found in the office of the former mayor of Funchal Pedro Calado following searches carried out by the Judiciary Police (PJ) in an investigation into suspected corruption in Madeira.
The former mayor was arrested, as well as the main shareholder of the construction group Socicorreia, Custódio Correia, and the leader of the construction group AFA, Avelino Farinha.
The interrogation of the three detainees ended in the early afternoon at the Criminal Investigation Court, with coercive measures expected to be announced today.
On January 24th, the PJ carried out around 130 home and non-home searches, mainly in Madeira, but also in the Azores and in various areas of the continent, as part of a process that investigates suspicions of active and passive corruption, economic participation in business , malfeasance, receiving or offering an undue advantage, abuse of powers and influence peddling.
The operation also affected the former president of the Regional Government of Madeira Miguel Albuquerque (PSD), who was accused and resigned from his position, which was formally accepted by the representative of the Republic on Monday and published in Diário da República on the same day.
According to court documents to which Lusa had access, the Public Ministry states that the former president of the Regional Government of Madeira, Miguel Albuquerque, the former president of the Municipal Chamber of Funchal Pedro Calado (PSD) and the leader of the group of AFA construction, Avelino Farinha, established, “over time, a relationship of particular closeness and trust” that will have benefited that business group “in contravention of the rules of free competition and public procurement”.
Among the contracts subject to criminal investigation, according to court documents are the concession of public road passenger transport service on the island of Madeira, the concession of the Curral das Freiras Cable Car, the Praia Formosa project and Funchal Jazz 2022- 2023.