A former Madeiran CTT Madeira employee today said that they regretted embezzling 37,000 euros, and confirmed that they have returned all the monies taken.
In a statement at the beginning of his criminal hearing at the Central Criminal Court of Funchal, the accused, 49-year-old Orlando Gouveia said:
“I made all these mistakes and committed these crimes. I am saying this with an open heart. I am very sorry.”
Orlando Gouveia is accused of embezzlement, document forgery and violation of correspondence secrecy.
The case dates back to September 2020, when he was the operational supervisor of the Penteada mail distribution centre, in Funchal, and came across three sealed envelopes in a suitcase with a security seal, which had been sent from the Azores to Madeira by mistake.
The envelopes – two from Novo Banco contained around 16,900 euros, while an envelope from Santander Totta had 20,000 euros inside.
It was then up to the accused to correct the error, but instead he decided to keep the money, and then covered up his crime by making duplicates of the records. In his defence, Orlando said:
“It was a very difficult phase in my life. I had worked for the company for many years [since 2002] without being valued, and was under a lot of pressure work as well as going through a difficult divorce.”
Orlando Gouveia reiterated how “completely sorry” he was and said that all the money had been returned. 30,000 euros was seized after his car was searched, and the rest transferred from his bank account to a bank reference indicated by the court.
The defendant, who has no criminal record, said, that he had already restored his life, with a new job, was newly married and was worried over the well-being of his daughter.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
