The Porto Regional Prosecutor’s Office announced on its official website that the two defendants sentenced on Monday were the leaders of the criminal operation.
An additional four defendants received sentences ranging from eight months to five years in prison, with suspended execution.
Alongside these sentences, the six defendants were ordered to pay the state 861,000 euros, money that was derived from their criminal activities.
The remaining 10 defendants, all businesses, were sentenced to dissolution.
The panel of judges confirmed “almost in its entirety” the facts presented in the accusation, specifically detailing that between 2020 and 2022, the defendants were involved nationally in concealing funds acquired through the actions of unidentified third parties, relating to cyber fraud and digital falsification crimes committed abroad, affecting multiple victims.
“To disguise the transfer of funds, the defendants created various commercial enterprises and/or used existing companies, either under their own or third-party ownership, stripping them of actual commercial activity and turning them into shell companies,” it stated.
It further added, “They opened numerous bank accounts used as pass-through accounts and, on several occasions, when banks requested information regarding the nature of the transactions, they justified them with false invoices, persuading financial institutions to authorize illegal transactions.”
