The director of Funchal Customs, João Paulo Matias, is reportedly the target of searches carried out by the Judiciary Police and the Public Prosecutor’s Office, with the presence of a prosecutor, “under suspicion of economic participation in business and personal favouritism of his own wife,” states CNN Portugal.
According to the same source, the tax inspector, who has held the highest customs position in the archipelago of Madeira for more than a decade, “should now be suspended from office,” as part of the ongoing investigation for allegedly having “attributed, and maintained, an undue subsidy to the woman who is a tax official and is dependent on him.”
CNN Portugal adds that “the improper allocation was the subject of a complaint, and this gave rise to an opinion, indicating that the subsidy was undue and should be withdrawn.” However, “years have passed and João Paulo Matias has never taken it from his wife, incurring the crimes for which he will now have to answer.”
JM sought to confirm the searches with the director of the Madeira Criminal Investigation Department of the Judiciary Police, José Matos, who did not confirm the information. During a telephone call with the Funchal Customs, an employee to whom we were given the call said she could say nothing about the information released this afternoon by CNN.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
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