Portugal Situation Report Wednesday 14^th December 2022

Good morning – Not surprisingly the main focus of this week’s report is the weather and the flooding and damage caused in many parts of the mainland.

The good news amongst all this is that there were few injuries and those that did occur were mainly minor. The amount of rain has been considerable particularly in the Lisbon area and other areas such as Portalegre.

Yesterday morning the ANEPC reported over one thousand occurrences and more than 30% (328) in the Lisbon district”. Most occurrences are registered in “flooded buildings, overflow of water lines, in Loures, Algés, with 449 floods. On top of from 21:00 on Monday until 16:00 today, 538 occurrences due to bad weather occurred as reported by Lisbon Firefighters.

These figures will certainly be revised, but it can be concluded from this that the all the warnings from the IPMA and alerts and notifications to the population from the ANEPC helped save life and property. It is essential that people understand the risks of such intense and heavy rain and the impact it can cause. Knowing the risks and impacts helps people be prepared by reducing the risks through taking the appropriate actions as advised by the authorities.

In this case apart from the normal advice by the ANEPC, there was advice by various authorities including the President of IPMA to only travel if your journey is really necessary certainly in areas most affected by the bad weather. This was sound advice as apart from reducing the number of people potentially at risk, it reduces the work of the emergency workers who have worked literally 24/7 to deal with the occurrences over the last week or so.

Hopefully the scenes from social media will send a signal for the days, weeks and months ahead that taking the proper precautions is the “cool” thing to do! In this regards I once again highlight the advice not to drive through flooded waters, except if there is no option available, and only then at a slow speed.

The other risk is that of landslides which there were several today one engulfing a car north of Lisbon. Slopes have been saturated with the heavy rain after a long dry spell, especially where the soil has been burned during fires. Take specially care and be on the lookout for slopes that appear unstable and/or debris and mud on the road.

Another impact of course was the disruption to the transport network as well as some rail transport, particularly in Lisbon district. We therefore stress the importance of checking with transport operators before starting your journey, as this avoids people congregating at transport stations, wasted journeys and the risk of being stranded in a flood. We thank all those workers who tried in difficult conditions to get the transport flowing again as soon as was possible.

Although at the time of writing this introduction there are no rain warnings in place, the first time for some days, this does not mean the flooding has stopped. As reported last night by the Captaincy of Porto, there is a possibility that today floods could occur on the Douro River in Régua and that on Wednesday, towards the end of the afternoon, the river would reach the banks in Porto. Other rivers at risk of overflowing were highlighted contained in our Facebook post. We recommend therefore that those of you living close to rivers monitor the situation closely and listen to the news and local updates in particular.

With all that please monitor the weather over the next few days and we will disseminate updates, information and advice, so please follow this page for the latest developments.

I thank my colleagues Fernanda and Susan for their help in keeping people posted during this period.

Have a safe week

News

Four Arrested for Hundreds of “MBWay Scams”

Three men and one woman were arrested on suspicion of crimes of qualified fraud, computer and communications fraud, computer fraud, illegitimate access and money laundering. In the last two years hundreds of “MBWay” scams have been committed.

As of 2020, suspects set up an elaborate scheme that allowed them to gain access to hundreds of victims’ bank accounts. They responded to sales advertisements on “online” platforms and were predisposed to make payments through MBWay. If victims had MBWay, they would make up an excuse and walk away from the business. If they didn’t have it, they were convinced to join the system.

They pretended to help sellers to register, but, in reality, “cunningly, they induced victims to provide direct access to bank accounts by associating a mobile phone number in the possession of the authors, to provide card data, to give orders to requests sending money or sending withdrawal codes”.

With this method, they will have managed to access hundreds of bank accounts, making movements to withdraw funds whose value has not yet been fully determined, explains the PJ in a statement.

This Tuesday, the Judicial Police Centre carried out an action in Monforte, Castelo Branco, Loures and Lisbon, which resulted in the arrest of four suspects: three men and a woman aged between 20 and 35 years whilst caught in the act. Articles and data related to the commission of crimes were seized, in particular the identification of bank accounts, hundreds of cell phone calls to the victims, dozens of cards and cell phones.

Former vice-president of the European Parliament and other suspects had more than 1.5 million at home

Police have found more than 1.5 million euros in cash in the homes of former Vice-President of the European Parliament (EP) Eva Kaili and former Italian MP Pier Antonio Panzeri, sources from the Belgian Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office said on Tuesday.

Investigators found around 600,000 euros in Panzeri’s house, while the rest of the money was found in the house of Eva Kaili and her husband Francesco Giorgi, as well as in the hands of the father of the former vice-president of the EP, judicial sources confirmed to the Spanish agency EFE.

Panzeri, Kaili and Giorgi, against whom an arrest warrant was issued by investigating judge Michel Claise, as well as a fourth person detained in the same case, are due to appear before the Brussels court on Wednesday, which will decide whether they should remain under custody, reported Le Soir.

The so-called ” Qatargate ” case , allegedly involving favors to the country hosting the world football championship, has so far resulted in Kaili being accused of participating in a criminal organization, money laundering and corruption.

According to Belgian media, the judge charged European Parliament adviser Francesco Giorgi and Brussels lobbyist and former Italian MP Pier Antonio Panzeri with the same crimes.

The socialist Eva Kaili, 44 years old, was removed this Tuesday from the position of vice-president of the EP by the plenary, after her arrest at the weekend was known.