Two individuals and two commercial companies have been charged with fraud, document forgery, and facilitating illegal immigration in a case led by the Prosecutor of the Republic from the 1st section of the Department of Investigation and Penal Action (DIAP) of Albufeira, according to a statement by the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Faro.
The two individuals effectively managed companies used to issue false employment contracts and other documents meant to register Indian citizens on the platform of the former SEF [Foreigners and Borders Service] with the aim of extraordinary legalization in Portugal, the same statement specified.
This procedure was carried out “despite the absence of any real employment connection” with the affected foreign citizens, added the Faro Prosecutor’s Office.
“[…] The defendants charged foreign citizens financial amounts in exchange for these contracts and documents. In several cases, even after payment, no documents were delivered,” highlighted the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
The indictment points to an example of one of the companies with 292 registered workers, 159 of whom had “false employment contracts used for legalization purposes” with immigration services.
It was also found that “in November 2019, 142 foreign citizens declared residing at the same address in Albufeira linked to the defendants,” the indictment states.
The investigation was conducted by the Southern Directorate of the Judicial Police.
