Twenty-six defendants convicted in illegal immigrant legalisation scheme in Lisbon
Lisbon court imposed suspended sentences on network that used non-existent addresses in Penha de França to validate status of foreign nationals.
Twenty-six defendants convicted in illegal immigrant legalisation scheme in Lisbon
A court in the Portuguese capital sentenced 26 individuals for involvement in a system that enabled the regularisation of foreign nationals through the presentation of non-existent residences in the Penha de França area. The sentences, all suspended, were announced on Wednesday.
The defendants were punished for the offences of aiding clandestine immigration and forgery of documents. A local parish council official was also convicted of misuse of his functions. The panel of judges found that there was insufficient evidence to establish a criminal association, given that the structure lacked sophisticated hierarchy.
As all convictions fell below the five-year threshold, the court opted for the suspension of execution of the sentences.
The scheme was reported in 2022 by the municipal authority itself. Two years later, the Public Prosecution Service brought charges against 30 people. One of them died in the meantime, and three will be tried separately owing to procedural difficulties in their service of summons.
According to the initial charges, a citizen of Bangladeshi-Pakistani origin coordinated the operation, assisted by five intermediaries from the same country and by some twenty residents of Penha de França — mostly Portuguese — who either provided or falsely attested to residences. Payment varied between ten and sixty euros.
The court, however, did not accept the leadership thesis, finding that it was not demonstrated that the presumed coordinator knew all the participants.
The only defendant who received no financial reward was the municipal employee, who appears to have played the role of informant, alerting to addresses under scrutiny. The others earned between 110 and almost 15,000 euros between the beginning of 2020 and mid-2023.
Source: Correio da Manhã
Source: Correio da Manhã