The former president of the Pombal Municipality, in the district of Leiria, and his former chief of staff, currently the president of the Meirinhas Parish Council, João Pimpão, have been charged by the Public Prosecutor’s Office with the crimes of embezzlement and misuse in co-operation. The former official also faced charges of document forgery.
During the trial, the panel of judges made a legal modification of the facts, with Diogo Mateus now facing charges of continued embezzlement and document forgery.
In the reading of the verdict at the Leiria Judicial Court, the presiding judge confirmed that the facts in the accusation against Diogo Mateus were proven.
The former municipal leader was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison and 60 days of fines at a daily rate of ten euros, plus nine months for document forgery. The court applied a legal accumulation of sentences, resulting in a four-year prison sentence, suspended for an equal period.
Diogo Mateus is also required to pay the compensation requested by the Municipality of Pombal, amounting to 1,467.75 euros.
The Leiria Court acquitted João Pimpão, due to insufficient evidence to support the claims made by the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
The judge noted that the penalty range for embezzlement lies between three and eight years, and emphasized that “the Court could not do more than what was done,” citing that “individuals in public office are entrusted by the populace with confidence, hence their election.”
At the conclusion of the session, the former official’s lawyer, Mário Diogo, recorded in the minutes the intention to appeal, with a 30-day period to submit the written justification.
The charges from the Public Prosecutor’s Office, referred to in the instructional decision, relate to actions between November 2018 and May 2019, when Diogo Mateus attended the 43rd National Defense Course in Lisbon, utilizing a “vehicle belonging to the Municipality of Pombal,” assigned to him by João Pimpão, and used tolls with Via Verde, “passing the costs to the municipality’s treasury.”
According to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, Diogo Mateus also charged the municipality with expenses for parking and fuel related to these journeys “for personal use.”
“All these expenses and the respective payments were authorized and processed by the defendant João Pimpão, in his capacity as chief of staff and manager of the office’s petty cash,” the instructional decision states.
The document further details that toll expenses “total 557.75 euros” and the expenses “related to these travels, notably for fuel, amount to an unspecified amount, but not less than 910 euros.”
