“The SGMJ reports that the target of the searches conducted yesterday [Thursday] by the Polícia Judiciária (PJ) were documentary elements regarding four public procurement processes. No individuals were constituted as defendants from this procedure. The SGMJ assured full cooperation with the work developed by the PJ,” announced the Ministry of Justice (MJ) in a note sent to Lusa.
Lusa queried the MJ about the outcome of the operation concerning the searches at the Institute of Registries and Notaries (IRN) and at BUPi – Balcão Único do Prédio, and is awaiting a response.
Thursday’s operation, which targeted various public bodies and companies over suspicions related to the acquisition of IT services between 2017 and 2025, resulted in the constitution of 43 defendants, a PJ source revealed today.
Among the 43 defendants, 31 are individuals and 12 are legal entities, the same source specified to Lusa, without clarifying whether they belong to the public or private sector.
The PJ and the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) announced on Thursday the execution of searches in several public organizations in Lisbon, Porto, and Braga. These operations were directed at officials rather than “political decision-makers,” amid suspicions of manipulating “dozens of public and private procurement procedures” in the information technology sector, with a total value of at least 17 million euros.
The Bank of Portugal, the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Justice, the Institute of Registries and Notaries (IRN), and BUPi – Balcão Único do Prédio were some of the targeted organizations, confirmed both the banking supervisor and a Ministry of Justice source.
The Minister of Justice, Rita Alarcão Júdice, expressed surprise at the operation and instructed the targeted entities to provide all necessary support to the inspectors, while the Bank of Portugal and the IRN assured full cooperation with the authorities.
According to PJ and PGR, the operation Pactum involves, “in abstract,” suspicions of economic participation in a business, abuse of power, active and passive corruption, fraud in obtaining subsidies, and money laundering, among other crimes.
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