Month: January 2017

The GNR through the Coastal Control Unit (UCC), delivered more than 38 tons of fish to social solidarity institutions during 2016, throughout the national territory.

Of the 128 tons of fish seized in 2016, after the obligatory submission to the sanitary inspection, about 38 tons were donated to social solidarity institutions, which corresponds to an additional 2.4 tons than in the year 2015.

Of this total value seized, a ton and a half of fish were still returned to the sea, as they were alive.

The UCC, with enforcement powers under the Land and Sea Fishing Law, also seized 166 tonnes of bivalves, 98 of which were returned to the aquatic environment as they were still alive, representing about 60% of the quantity seized.

During the various inspections carried out in the fisheries sector, the main infractions detected leading to the seizures were:

• Non-compliance with minimum sizes for fishing and commercialization;
• Lack of transport documents;
• Not subject to the legal compliance concerning the first sale of fresh fish.

The FBI has seized $20 million dollars of cash, literally stuffed in a mattress in Westborough, Massachusetts, linked to the infamous TelexFree pyramid scheme that reportedly raised over $1 billion from over one million gullible participants between January 2012 and March 2014. It is estimated that there were several thousand victims in Portugal involving some US$50 million, many of whom are living in Madira.

Cleber Rene Rizerio Rocha, 28, was charged in a criminal complaint with one count of conspiring to commit money laundering. Rocha was detained following an appearance today before U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Judith G. Dein.

According to the US Department of Justice, the money was found after an associate of one the scheme’s founders, Brazilian-native Carlos Wanzeler, was caught trying to launder the ill-gotten cash through Hong Kong to his boss who has been hiding out in Brazil ever since the TelexFree headquarters were raided by FBI agents back in 2014.  Unfortunately for him, the person chosen to help with the money laundering scheme was an FBI informant.

The complaint alleges that an intermediary working on Wanzeler’s behalf contacted an associate for help transferring millions of dollars of TelexFree money – still hidden in the greater Boston area – from the United States to Brazil. The associate, who subsequently became a cooperating witness for the government, allegedly arranged with Wanzeler’s nephew in Brazil to launder the cash through Hong Kong, convert it to Brazilian reals, and transfer it to Brazilian accounts.

According to court documents, Rocha, acting as a courier for Wanzeler’s nephew, flew from Brazil to JFK Airport in New York City a few days ago. Yesterday, Rocha met the cooperating witness at a restaurant in Hudson, Mass., and allegedly gave him $2.2 million in a suitcase.

After the meeting, agents followed Rocha to an apartment complex in Westborough, Mass., and later arrested him. That night, federal agents searched an apartment at the Westborough complex and seized a massive stockpile of cash hidden in a box spring. The cash appears to total approximately $20 million.

The Aliens and Borders Service (SEF) detained at the Lisbon Airport a foreign national in fulfillment of an arrest warrant for the purposes of extradition issued by the German authorities.

The 45-year-old, intercepted by the SEF on arrival in Portugal from Miami, is wanted to serve a 10-year prison sentence in Germany for a felony crime.

The detainee was present at the Court of Appeal and led, by judicial decision, to the prison establishment at the Judicial Police where he awaits the further terms of the extradition process for Germany.

The Secretary of State for Internal Affairs, Jorge Gomes, and the Chilean Ambassador to Portugal, Germán Guerrero Pavez, attended the departure today 28th January of a team from the National Authority of Civil Protection (ANPC), which will support Chile in combating forest fires, which have been beating that country for a month.

The Portuguese Government’s response follows the request for international assistance to forest fires presented by the Chilean authorities in the framework of the Civil Protection Mechanism of the European Union.

The Portuguese Government mobilizes an Operational Force with terrestrial means composed of 52 operatives of the Special Fire Service of the National Civil Protection Authority.

Under the solidarity that must govern the relationship between friendly countries, and considering the scenario in question, Portugal sent a team which includes an ANPC command team.

Also in this context, the ANPC also provided an expert on forest fires for eventual integration into the evaluation team that will be mobilized.

Since December 2016, Chile has probably faced the worst wave of forest fires in its history, and there are already lamented several deaths, more than 100 people removed from their homes and considerable damages in the building, being the regions of Valparaiso, Metropolitana, O’Higgins, Maule, Biobio, La Araucania and Los Lagos the most affected.

Seven people of the same family, including some children, were hospitalized in the early hours of 28th January for carbon monoxide poisoning at their home in Vila Nova de Milfontes, Odemira, Beja, according to the fire department.

Beja told the Lusa news agency that the alert was given at 01:40 and that the victims were transported to the Alentejo Litoral Hospital in Santiago do Cacém.

The intoxication will have originated in a brazier that was inside the house, said the same source, noting that people presented symptoms of malaise and vomiting and were aware.

The Bombeiros of Vila Nova de Milfontes, the ambulance of Immediate Life Support (SIV) of Odemira and the GNR, participated in the rescue to the victims, with a total of 12 operatives, supported by seven vehicles.

Inspector General calls on companies to make donations

The Food and Economic Security Authority (ASAE) last year donated 4.4 tons of food and more than 14,000 economic goods to 70 entities from 47 counties in 18 districts of mainland Portugal.

According to data from ASAE, which agency Lusa had access to, last year food inspections were assessed in food products valued at 20,971 euros and non-food products worth 240,667 euros, making a total of 261,637 euros.

A total of 4.4 tons of food, 72 packages and 532 units of food products were seized. 14,034 garments and accessories were also seized, as well as 250 sprays, 42 toys, 30 consoles, two boilers and 44 domestic textiles. Among the 97 donations made in 2016 are products such as meat and meat products, fish and fish products, cereals in nature, chocolates, various foodstuffs (sausages, bread and cheese), honey, clothing and accessories, sprays, toys, consoles , Boilers / water heaters and household textiles.

The districts of Faro, Lisbon, Santarém and Coimbra were the districts where there were more institutions receiving donated goods, more than 10 entities. According to ASAE data, among the entities that received donations are public institutions and social reintegration, family and community support, support for children and youth, support for old age, disability, conservation of species and habitats, support for those with disability and incapacity, support and protection of animals and social response of national institution.

According to the official, the balance of donations in recent years “is positive” and the future objective is “to continue in a logic of geographical equity, diversification of users, beneficiaries and increasingly involve economic entities in this policy.” By 2015, ASAE had seized 25.7 tons of food products and 5,325 non-food products, totalling 302,000 euros. That year, 67 donations were made to 49 entities from 33 counties in 14 districts

The Lisbon Criminal Small Claims Court on Friday acquitted the two Algerians who had fled Humberto Delgado airport two weeks ago and were detained and then sent to Algeria.

The court considered that the testimony of the witnesses and the matter in the case file does not show that the defendants committed the crimes of breach of security of transport and introduction in a place prohibited to the public.

“The court cannot convict these people just because their escape has caused social alarm. Obviously the behaviour is reprehensible, but that is not enough to condemn them for the crimes they are accused of,” the judge said.

Accordingly, the court acquitted Hichem Guellil and Mohamed Mechani of crimes against transport safety and entry to a place that was not forbidden to the public. For the latter, it considered that the criminal proceeding was “extinguished”, since the offended entity (ANA – Airports Did not complain.

The trial took place in the absence of the defendants, with their consent, as they were coercively sent by the Aliens and Borders Service (SEF) to the country of origin.

Before the judge’s decision, the Public Prosecutor had also requested the acquittal of the defendants, as did the defense lawyers of the two Algerians.

The two men fled on January 12 when a group of five Algerians (four men and one woman) boarded a flight bound for Algiers and “managed to transpose the protection network at Lisbon airport,” PSP. The other three were arrested when they tried to flee.

In a verdict handed down orally, admitted to a summary proceeding, the judge considered that, in relation to the charge of introducing the public prosecutor’s office, the Public Prosecutor’s Office “lacked legitimacy” to proceed with the criminal proceeding alone, since it involved a semi- Which depends on the complaint of the offended entity (ANA-VINCI)

The owner of a goldsmith shop in Corroios, Seixal, shot and wounded a thief, about 20 years old, who tried to rob the establishment with the help of three accomplices in the early evening of yesterday.

The wounded man has a bullet lodged in the head and was, on Friday night, in the Intensive Care of Garcia de Orta Hospital, Almada. The dealer’s brother was beaten and transported to the same hospital unit.

The thieves are part of a gang already referenced by assaults to goldsmiths on the south bank of the Tagus. The crime occurred at 18:55 hrs at the goldsmith’s shop, on Rua do Casa do Povo. Four hooded men approached the compound. Two stood at the door and the other two entered. One was armed with a pistol and the other had a cobblestone in his hand. The owners of the goldsmith shop, two brothers, were inside, one at the counter and the other at the office. There would be a third person inside the goldsmith shop.

The merchant who was in attendance, about 50 years old, was beaten and kicked. Upon seeing the brother being beaten, the other owner of the goldsmith’s shop would have taken the pistol and made at least two shots. One of the thieves was hit in the head and fell inanimate. The other three robbers fled, leaving much damage inside the goldsmith shop.

Maria do Céu, spokeswoman for the PSP Command of Setúbal, told CM that the alert was received at 19.00 hrs. “Several patrols were quick to come, saw the injured assailant on the ground and the dealer with signs of aggression,” he explained.

The Seixal Firefighters sent nine men and five vehicles to the scene. The most serious wound was stabilized and taken to critical condition for the hospital. The PJ of Setúbal was, last night, questioning the merchant who fired the shots, as well as other witnesses.

 

According to a report in the Diario de Noticais almost 8,000 counterfeit euro banknotes were withdrawn from circulation in Portugal last year, 9.7% less than in 2015, with the balance of 20 euros being more counterfeit, Banco de Portugal (BdP) reported today.

The bank regulator reports that the 20 euro note “remains the most counterfeit”, accounting for about 50% of counterfeit notes withdrawn from circulation. Last year, 3,876 unfavourable notes of 20 euros were seized, compared to 4,755 seized in 2015.

Soon thereafter, the 50 banknotes, denomination in which 2,699 counterfeits were seized, compared to 2,406 during the past year.

In a note, Banco de Portugal considers that the number of counterfeits seized in Portugal “continues to be residual”, when compared to total banknotes in circulation.

According to the communiqué of the European Central Bank (ECB), also published on the page of the Bop in the second half of last year, 353,000 counterfeit euro banknotes were withdrawn, a slight increase compared to the first half and 20, 7% less than in the second half of 2015.

The € 20 and € 50 banknotes accounted for about 80% of counterfeits, with € 50 to lead counterfeits.

The majority (93.6%) of counterfeit notes were detected in euro area countries, with around 5.4% of notes being seized in non-euro area Member States of the European Union and 1% In other parts of the world.