The Judiciary Police carried out searches in Madeira this Tuesday and made five arrests. This is an operation to combat alleged fraud with the mobility allowance granted to residents traveling by plane to the continent.
“The searches took place in Lisbon, Loures and the Autonomous Region of Madeira (RAM), namely in the municipalities of Funchal, Santa Cruz and Câmara de Lobos”reveals the Judiciary Police in a statement.
The investigations, which began on Monday, took place in several travel agencies in the city of Funchal.
Early this Tuesday morning, the homes of several travel agents were searched.
“The investigation found that the defendants, with the aim of obtaining large illegitimate economic profits, decided to develop a criminal scheme with the aim of obtaining illegitimate profits through the social mobility subsidy, related to hundreds of non-existent trips, totaling undue reimbursements more than half a million euros”.
The social mobility subsidy came into force in the Madeira archipelago in September 2015.
“The steps now taken were aimed at collecting evidence, in order to consolidate the ongoing investigation into the crimes of criminal association, qualified fraud, falsification or counterfeiting of documents and money laundering, and the conduct that comprises them is considered highly organized crime”, adds the note published in site yes PJ.The alleged criminal association now dismantled demonstrated high levels of organization, with different hierarchical levels, being made up of forgers, recruiters/raisers and controllers.
According to the Judicial Police, “the plan involved recruiting RAM residents, who were provided with necessary documents