“We are talking about thousands of people. We have no doubt that many of them, with more or less effort, could regularize their situation; others will certainly need everything reviewed,” highlighted Avelino Lima.
According to the director of the PJ in the Central region, the thousands of immigrants are from “a Lusophone country in South America and the Hindustan region.”
Today, the PJ announced that it has dismantled an alleged organized criminal group that was systematically engaged in crimes aiding illegal immigration, corruption, money laundering, and document forgery.
A total of 13 individuals were arrested, comprising seven men and six women, including seven entrepreneurs, a lawyer, and an employee of the Directorate-General for Consular Affairs and Portuguese Communities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The detainees, among whom are seven nationals and six foreigners, are aged between 26 and 64 years and have no known criminal record.
Recruited via Social Media: Residency in Exchange for a “Significant Amount”
During a press conference this morning in Coimbra, Avelino Lima explained that immigrants were recruited by the group through social media, where they were informed about “possibilities and facilities” upon paying “a significant amount.”
“Then, a structure performed all the work to allow these immigrants, upon arrival, to legalize their status. Many of them never even set foot on national territory but had residence permit documentation, which has repercussions on tax and social security levels, presenting an increasingly grave reality,” he stated.
He emphasized to journalists that this organized group with “clear tasks” likely started operating at the beginning of 2022, having set up consultancy companies for this purpose.
The services the immigrants paid for included obtaining employment contracts, a Fiscal Identification Number (NIF), a Social Security Identification Number (NISS), a National Health Service User Number (SNS), translation and certification of criminal records, opening bank accounts, residence attestations, among others.
“We had a mole, unfortunately, in that Ministry [of Foreign Affairs] and that service, which ceased its activity yesterday [Tuesday]. This individual played a fundamental role by adding credibility to false facts,” he further noted.
As part of this operation by the Central Directorate, named “Gambérria,” 40 search operations were conducted at residential and non-residential addresses in Coimbra, Espinho, Carregal do Sal, Amadora, Odivelas, Loures, and Lisbon.
An enormous collection of documentation used in irregular legalization processes of foreigners was seized, along with computer equipment, 11 vehicles, some of which were high performance, around one million euros in cash, and two elephant tusks in ivory weighing about 50 kilograms.
Various items purchased with the crime’s proceeds and materials used in the forgery of documents were also seized, including a seal found in a company used to “validate” thousands of criminal record certificates of foreign citizens.
The Asset Recovery Office – Central proceeded to the seizure of six properties, two rustic and four urban buildings (a villa and three apartments) and froze 35 bank accounts, two financial products from the gaming company Betano, and a crypto assets account from Binance.
The investigation will continue and it is “very likely that more arrests will occur.”
