Public Prosecutor's Office error frees leaders of 'Digital Alliance' sham marriage network
A procedural lapse by the Public Prosecutor's Office prevents the trial from advancing for the heads of a network that profited two million euros from convenience marriages.
Translation failure in indictment delays trial for 'Digital Alliance' network heads
The two sisters who led a sham marriage network in Portugal remain at liberty due to an error by the Public Prosecutor's Office, reports Correio da Manhã. The criminal investigation judge classified the situation as an "incurable nullity", blocking the advancement of the major case dubbed 'Digital Alliance'.
The procedural defect concerns the translation of the indictment order. "The translation of the indictment order is the exclusive responsibility of the Public Prosecutor's Office," the judge emphasised, warning of the seriousness of the omission. Without this translated document, the foreign defendants cannot be formally notified according to the required legal terms.
Network with 158 defendants and two million euros in profits
The 'Digital Alliance' case, investigated by the Judicial Police, brings together 158 defendants accused of crimes of criminal association, aiding illegal immigration, qualified fraud, money laundering and document falsification.
Over seven years, the network managed to accumulate approximately two million euros through convenience marriages — matrimonial contracts performed with the sole purpose of legalising irregular immigrants in Portugal. The business had a fixed price: 30,000 euros per marriage.
Sixty Portuguese women married citizens from Maghreb, mainly from Algeria, at a registry office in Portugal. The ceremonies were carried out in apparently legal form, but within a criminal structure that was organised and coordinated by the two sisters who head the indictment.
Nullity prevents trial from proceeding
The deficiency now identified has direct consequences for the case's progression. The criminal investigation judge determined that the absence of translation constitutes an incurable nullity, which means that the court cannot remedy the error or proceed without the Public Prosecutor's Office fulfilling the missing formality.
Until the situation is regularised, the main defendants — the two sisters identified as leaders of the organisation — remain without the trial advancing, maintaining their current status of liberty.
The case illustrates how a bureaucratic lapse can paralyse a major case built over years of police investigation, and delay the judicial response to a network that, according to the indictment, systematically exploited the Portuguese civil registration system for profit.
Source: Correio da Manhã