The municipality in the district of Santarém has issued a statement affirming its “full willingness to provide all requested clarifications.” It emphasizes maintaining “a firm commitment to transparency, rigor, and responsibility in public management,” principles that it assures “will continue to guide the actions of the municipal administration.”
The council, led by Nuno José Azevedo (PS), expressed surprise that “information related to the operation was publicly disclosed before the Judicial Police entered the Town Hall premises and already referenced the scope of the proceedings.”
“Naturally, we were surprised,” the municipality writes.
Still, it stresses that the situation “does not change the municipality’s stance: to cooperate, clarify, and allow the investigation to proceed with total serenity and institutional normality.”
The Judicial Police are conducting searches today at the Coruche Municipal Council in the district of Santarém, confirmed the criminal investigation force, without revealing further details about the operation.
According to the NOW portal, the proceedings aim to ascertain potential illicit practices in municipal management, particularly in the application of European funds and the contracting of services and public works.
Nuno Azevedo was elected in the municipal elections in October, succeeding Francisco Oliveira. The Socialist Party won 32% of the votes and secured three mandates, the same number of elected officials as the independent movement “Volta Coruche,” led by Dionísio Mendes, a former council president previously elected by the PS.
