The Barreiro City Council was searched by the Judiciary Police (PJ) on Thursday in relation to the contracting of communication services.
The information about the searches was confirmed by the mayor of Barreiro, Frederico Rosa. “We were asked for access to computer records and the Barreiro City Council is always available to collaborate,” he said.
The case involves the communication company Wonderlevel, which provides services to various municipalities. The contractual relationship between the Barreiro Council and Wonderlevel arose from an international public tender and resulted in a three-year contract worth 315,000 euros.
The searches are part of Operation Concerto, mainly targeting communication entrepreneurs Luís Bernardo and João Tocha, who are suspected of price-fixing to secure public contracts.
In March, it was reported that Wonderlevel Partners (WLP) and First Five Consulting (F5C) secured half of all contracts with municipalities won by the 20 largest communication agencies in Portugal between 2008 and 2024, totaling 90 contracts – 45 each.
Notably, the largest contract was signed between WLP and the Barreiro Council for the development of a communication strategy and detailed action plan to “project” the municipality.
Last year, reports indicated that the two companies earned approximately 8.2 million euros in public contracts from 2012 to 2024. F5C, owned by João Tocha, took the largest share, while Wonderlevel, owned by Luís Fernando, secured about 3.6 million euros in public contracts.
A year ago, on July 4, 2024, the Central Department of Investigation and Penal Action (DCIAP) revealed it had conducted “about a dozen home searches, authorized by an investigating judge, and more than two dozen non-home searches.”
The searches were “conducted in residences in the Lisbon area and in the headquarters of various commercial and public companies, as well as in several facilities, mainly in the Lisbon area, including a university, municipalities, a Lisbon parish, municipal services, municipal companies, and the general secretariat of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.”
PJ is conducting dozens of searches, involving the activity of the company Wonder Level Partners (WLP), of Luís Bernardo. Notícias ao Minuto | 10:19 – 04/07/2024
“The investigation covers public procurement matters, with suspicions that various commercial companies in the communication and marketing services sector participated in a concerted scheme that involved submitting bids in public tenders, falsely creating a scenario of apparent competition and legality, but aiming to ensure, from the outset, which would be the winning bids,” as stated in a July 4, 2024 note.
These facts could constitute crimes of passive corruption, active corruption, prevarication, economic participation in business, and abuse of power.
At the time, Luís Bernardo downplayed Operation Concerto, explaining to Lusa that it was “a normal information-collection procedure within the framework of a judicial investigation that covers various public and private entities.”
“I was completely shocked and surprised to hear a set of absurd and fanciful speculations in some media outlets, which can only result from motives other than informing,” he noted, confirming that he was not named as a suspect in this inquiry: “I end the day in the same situation as I started it and remain fully available to cooperate with the authorities.”
The CEO of Wonderlevel Partners (WL Partners), Luís Bernardo, minimized today’s Operation “Concerto” triggered by the Judiciary Police (PJ), where he is one of those targeted for suspicions of corruption and manipulation of public contracting rules. Lusa | 18:29 – 04/07/2024
