Companies belonging to those arrested invoiced 3.2 million with public entities In the last 4 years, 98.6% of the 74 contracts were concluded without a public tender, having been carried out by direct agreement and prior consultation. Two thirds of these deals are not under investigation. The Ministry of Agriculture and IASaúde are the largest awarders of contracts to the companies now targeted under Operation ‘Ab Initio’. Calheta City Council is outside the top 10 contractors. This is the news that makes the headlines in the edition of DIÁRIO de Notícias da Madeira this Thursday, 19 September.
Also note that the PGR made a mistake in communicating the dates of the investigation. The Lisbon District Attorney General’s Office announced on Tuesday that the judicial investigations focused on the competitive procedures between 2014 and 2020, while the search request referred to another period. When confronted by DIÁRIO yesterday, the PGR acknowledged the error and corrected it to 2020-24. Defendants will be heard today. Coercive measures may require elections and appointments. Profile, career and close connections. More than 50 investigators from Operation ‘Ab Initio’ returned to Lisbon.