Head of Criminal Police Carlos Cabreiro reported for perjury in Football Leaks case
Carlos Cabreiro, national director of the Criminal Police (PJ), has been reported to the Public Prosecutor's Office for perjury and abuse of power in the Football Leaks case.
Head of Criminal Police accused of lying in court about wiretaps in Rui Pinto case
The national director of the Criminal Police, Carlos Cabreiro, was the subject of a complaint sent to the Attorney General for the crimes of perjury and abuse of power, according to findings by Correio da Manhã. The case is related to a surveillance operation carried out as part of the "Football Leaks" investigation, which involves hacker Rui Pinto, in which means of recording conversations were allegedly used without judicial authorisation.
The A5 operation and what was said in court
The operation in question took place on 21 October 2015 at a service area on the Lisbon-Cascais motorway (A5). Having been previously informed, the Criminal Police set up a surveillance operation at a meeting between lawyer Aníbal Pinto and a representative of the investment fund Doyen, Nélio Lucas, and his respective lawyer, Pedro Henriques.
The content of the conversation was later reduced to writing in an External Diligence Report (RDE), signed by inspectors Aida Freitas and Hugo Monteiro. In that document, it was described that Aníbal Pinto, as lawyer for Rui Pinto, allegedly requested between 500,000 and one million euros for his client to return documents taken from Doyen's computers. The same lawyer also allegedly gave a description of the client, who at that time was only known by the name "Artem Lobuzov".
During the trial of the "Football Leaks" case — in which Aníbal Pinto and Rui Pinto were ultimately convicted of attempted extortion — the lawyer consistently denied the Criminal Police's version and requested that any recording of the conversation be presented in court. Several inspectors, including José Amador and Hugo Monteiro, testified that there was no recording and that the content of the report resulted from what two inspectors heard in person at the service area.
"I heard nothing. Absolutely nothing"
The report collapsed when inspector Aida Freitas, one of the signatories of the document, declared in court in January 2021 that she had not heard the conversation. "I'm going to be very honest, I swore not to lie, I'm here to tell the truth. I heard nothing of what they said. Absolutely nothing," she stated.
During her testimony, Freitas added that on the day after the operation, the report was presented to her "to sign". "And I signed. As I say, badly. But I signed." The version was contested by her colleague Hugo Monteiro, who assured that he had drafted the document together with Freitas, and by inspector José Amador. Aida Freitas herself became the subject of criminal proceedings for perjury, with a decision scheduled for September.
It was precisely during the trial of Aida Freitas that Carlos Cabreiro — at the time coordinator of criminal investigation in computer crime at the Criminal Police — took an oath that the Criminal Police had not recorded the A5 conversation, alleging that this was not even permitted by law given the crimes under investigation. Cabreiro also presented a new version of how the report was prepared: it had not been Freitas and Monteiro who drafted the document, but rather inspector José Amador, based on notes taken from conversations with both of them.
Internal documents contradict the testimonies
Internal documents of the Criminal Police, to which the NOW portal had access, suggest a different reality. In early October 2015, the Prevention and Technological Support Unit (UPAT) — a department responsible for special investigation operations, including surveillance and environmental wiretaps — was mobilised for the Football Leaks investigation through a request subscribed by Carlos Cabreiro himself, together with inspectors José Amador, Rogério Bravo and José Garcia. In the form, lawyer Aníbal Pinto was listed as a suspect.
In the same documentation appears a second External Diligence Report, dated 4 November 2015, which indicates the location of the operation as the "A5 motorway" and states that "various devices were placed on the injured party and the collaborating party" — that is, on Nélio Lucas and Pedro Henriques, who until 21 October had been keeping the Criminal Police informed about contacts with Aníbal Pinto.
The same document adds that at the end of the meeting between the three, "various files were obtained, which, after being downloaded, were placed on a CD". Inspectors José Tiago, Moisés Martins, Fernando Figueiras and João Jardim also indicate that this CD was delivered to the "investigation" — the word appears in quotation marks in the original text — "to inspector José Amador", precisely the person responsible for the Rui Pinto case.
Carlos Cabreiro's response
In response to questions posed by NOW, Carlos Cabreiro stated that he maintains "all the statements made in court, having not made any statement that does not correspond to the truth". Regarding the operation allegedly conducted by UPAT and which motivated the complaint to the Attorney General, the head of the Criminal Police stated, through the press office, that "the supposed procedure described is not within his knowledge".
Cabreiro added that "the procedures inherent to UPAT activities strictly comply with applicable legal regimes, namely criminal procedural rules, and are based on compliance with mission orders directed to it".
Miguel Martins, the lawyer representing inspector Aida Freitas, refused to comment on the case when contacted by NOW. As for Aníbal Pinto, he began to respond — "Upon verification of these fa..." — but his statement was not completed in the available elements.
Source: Correio da Manhã