Background of the Case
In 2023, a man was convicted for threatening to kill the President of the Republic of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. He was arrested for illegally accessing the Social Security database, from which he allegedly gathered the identification and personal details of hundreds of agents from various security services, including the Serviço de Informações e Segurança (SIS), the Serviço de Informações Estratégicas e Defesa (SIED), the Polícia Judiciária (PJ), and the Autoridade Tributária (AT). This information was reported by the magazine Sábado, which noted that the data matched what was found on a USB drive seized in November 2023 from the office of Vítor Escária, a former chief of staff to ex-Prime Minister António Costa.
Details of the Investigation
Escária claimed he was unaware of the contents of the USB drive, stating that it arrived at the Palácio de São Bento with his predecessor. The individual who accessed the Social Security database, Marco de Aragão, reportedly obtained this information while serving as a senior inspector trainee in 2019. He is alleged to have demanded “500,000 euros in unmarked 20 and 50 euro notes” from various institutions, threatening to expose the identities of the agents if his demands were not met.
On the same day, the Prosecutor General’s Office confirmed that an inquiry had been opened by the Public Ministry regarding violations of state secrecy following the seizure of the USB drive. Meanwhile, António Costa’s lawyer stated that the former Prime Minister and current President of the European Council is completely unaware of the matter.
Legal Consequences for Marco de Aragão
Marco de Aragão, who had previously threatened the President in 2022, was sentenced to compulsory hospitalization for a minimum of one month and a maximum of three years and four months for attempted aggravated coercion and possession of a prohibited weapon. Deemed unfit to stand trial, he was also ordered to pay a civil compensation of 2,500 euros for non-pecuniary damages to his cousin, Valter Silva. This compensation arose from an attempt to incriminate Silva in a letter sent to Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, which included the bank account number where a million euros was to be transferred, along with a bullet.
Operation Influencer and Its Implications
The Prosecutor General’s Office confirmed that an inquiry was initiated by the Public Ministry for violations of state secrecy following the seizure of a USB drive containing a list of agents from the intelligence services during the Operation Influencer investigation. This operation led to the arrests of several individuals, including Vítor Escária, lawyer and consultant Diogo Lacerda Machado, Start Campus administrators Afonso Salema and Rui Oliveira Neves, and the mayor of Sines, Nuno Mascarenhas, on November 7, 2023.
Other figures implicated include former Infrastructure Minister João Galamba, former President of the Portuguese Environment Agency Nuno Lacasta, lawyer João Tiago Silveira, and the Start Campus company. The case has since been divided into three separate inquiries related to the construction of a data center in the Sines industrial and logistics area, lithium mining in Montalegre and Boticas, and hydrogen energy production in Sines.
António Costa’s Involvement
António Costa, who was linked to this case, faced an inquiry by the Public Ministry at the Supreme Court of Justice, prompting him to resign as Prime Minister. With his resignation and the consequent loss of special legal immunity, the investigation concerning the former government official was transferred to the Central Department of Investigation and Penal Action (DCIAP).
