In April 2024, the Public Ministry brought charges against 16 individuals, accusing them of 55 crimes, including active and passive corruption and organized criminal activity, related to the Regional Health Service.
The case involves an alleged scheme where “the main defendants, a company and its manager, who operated in the supply of medical and hospital supplies to the hospitals and health units of the Regional Health Secretariat,” allegedly offered “economic benefits to employees of those health services to gain favor in the awarding of supply contracts, whether in public tenders or direct awards.”
In a statement issued today, the Judicial Court of the Azores indicates that during the investigation, “various procedural nullities were raised,” noting that “the case will proceed to trial only concerning some of the factual incidents narrated in the accusation, as it accepted the defense’s perspective regarding several defendants in a considerable portion of the case.”
Thus, of the 16 defendants, an indictment order was issued for eight, while a non-indictment order was issued for the other eight.
Of these eight defendants, six may still request provisional suspension of the process.
“The process will proceed to the next trial phase before the Collective Court of the Central Civil and Criminal Court of Ponta Delgada to determine the legal and criminal responsibility of at least two defendants. As for the other six defendants, the investigating judge is considering applying provisional suspension of the process, waiting for the Public Ministry and each of them to express their views on this potential consensual resolution of the case,” it is noted.
Of the eight indicted defendants, the company’s indictment includes three of the 15 crimes it was accused of, and the managing partner is indicted for four of the 16 crimes he was charged with.
For the remaining six defendants, an indictment for a total of 11 crimes was issued.
“Regarding most crimes of active and passive corruption, improper receipt of advantages, and abuse of power, the Investigating Court of Ponta Delgada believes the corrupt agreements are not sufficiently substantiated” between the equipment and hospital product supplier company and its defendants,” it reads further.
Additionally, the investigative decision states, “in the few cases where there is clear evidence of the connection between offers and advantages (as ‘two sides of the same coin’), these are mere trifles (such as the loan of a vehicle, once, for transporting furniture) or gifts considered socially accepted and approved (such as chocolates and pineapples during Christmas festivities), not assuming any penal dignity as such.”
On the other hand, “the payment of nurses’ training expenses by third parties (e.g., payment or reimbursement of airfare, stay, or registration for training events/conferences) was, at the time, a widespread, normal practice in the sector’s customs.”
It further adds, “the vast majority of beneficiaries among the defendants had no power of determination or decision in selecting products and equipment supplied by such sponsoring companies, including the accused company.”
The investigative decision is subject to appeal within an extended 60-day period (considering the exceptional complexity of the process) and limited to procedural nullity proceedings and the non-indictment part, as explained further in the release signed by Pedro Soares de Albergaria, the presiding judge of the Judicial Court of the Azores.
The case was assigned to the Ponta Delgada Investigative Court in September 2024, with the investigation being received, “after various vicissitudes, in February 2025,” it adds further.
