Nine out of ten defendants who appealed the first-instance decision saw their sentences reduced by the appellate judges.
According to the decision from the Lisbon Court of Appeal dated June 26, which Lusa reviewed, fourteen of the sixteen current or former employees of the Tax and Customs Authority had been sentenced on July 13, 2023, by the Lisbon Central Criminal Court to suspended prison terms ranging from one to five years.
The remaining two former employees received fines of 1,000 and 1,200 euros.
A 17th defendant, related by marriage to one of the convicted employees, was fined 1,400 euros.
With the appellate court’s decision, twelve of the sixteen former customs officers at Lisbon’s Humberto Delgado Airport were sentenced to suspended prison terms ranging from one to four years and six months, while the other four received fines between 900 and 1,200 euros.
The 17th defendant did not appeal the decision.
The trial established that, between April 2018 and June 2020, the defendants appropriated computers, mobile phones, clothing, luggage, perfumes, alcoholic beverages, and tobacco forgotten or abandoned by passengers on aircraft or at Lisbon Airport, which were stored in the lost and found section.
Beyond personal use, the items were gifted to family members and friends, leading to the defendants humorously referring to the storeroom as ‘El Corte Inglés’.
In reviewing the appeals, the appellate court acknowledged that hundreds of items were taken from the lost and found but found insufficient proof to confirm that all items were stolen during the specified period from April 2018 to June 2020.
This resulted in a reduction in the severity of the offenses attributed to the defendants and, subsequently, most of the penalties imposed.
Two of the defendants were also convicted of possessing prohibited weapons and embezzlement.
