Eight UMinho employees convicted of falsifying work-related travel claims
Braga Court has convicted eight managers and technicians from UMinho's Social Action Services for document falsification between 2011 and 2016.
Convicted of falsifying trips and travel allowances at the University of Minho
Braga Court has convicted eight managers and technicians from the University of Minho's Social Action Services of document falsification, used to receive travel allowances for trips and services that were never actually carried out. The case was reported by Observador based on a statement from the District Public Prosecutor's Office in Porto.
The facts in question concern the period between 26 February 2011 and 17 December 2016. During this time, the defendants filled out — or asked the administration secretary to fill out — itinerary forms and work-related travel documents, stating that trips had been made and services provided that entitled them to travel allowances that had never actually occurred.
The court also established as fact that the defendants systematically used trips declared to locations far distant from the services' headquarters in Braga, "intentionally seeking to inflate the amounts to be received as transport and travel allowances". The Management Board of the Social Action Services authorised the payments, which were then processed in the accounting information system and transferred by bank transfer to the defendants' accounts.
The court convicted all eight of the aggravated crime of document falsification, with sentences ranging from one year and three months to two years and two months in prison, suspended for an equivalent period. As a condition of suspension, each defendant must contribute between one thousand and four thousand euros to charitable institutions.
The convicted individuals were also ordered to repay to the State the amounts corresponding to the financial benefits obtained through the crimes.
Source: Observador