Another totally absurd and criminal sentence from another Portuguese corrupt judge, one that perfectly illustrates why Portuguese justice is such an aberration, a horror movie, a criminal institution above all.
It is very clear that this judge is far more concerned about the crook than about his many victims (I wonder why!), going so far as to state something so outrageously insulting to the victims as “not to jeopardize the dignity and livelihood of the accused”, because for this Portuguese “judge” the victims of the crook have not lost and suffered anything.
ONLY in Portugal would the “judge” be more concerned with the dignity of the criminal than with the well-being of the victims!
This crook, using his accounting firm, stole at least, and as far as is known, 1.7 million euros (yet, in the best Portuguese style, he was only accused of stealing 800,000 euros) from his clients, affecting 160 companies and at least 340 jobs, but probably it was worse than that, because in Portugal the truth is always very hard to find.
Now the abysmal insult, that the crook only has to return 40,000 euros (2.35%) of the 1.7 million euros! But not to burden the poor guy too much, he still has four years and eight months to return this alms distributed by the 160 stolen companies. Of course, we all know that in the end, the crook will not even return a single cent of this alms to anyone, and nothing will happen to the thief.
Be very, very careful, because if you ever have the misfortune to be swindled and robbed in Portugal (which is extremely easy to happen), this is more or less what will happen to you in Portugal’s corrupt and fraudulent courts, typical of any banana republic. THIS IS the real Portugal!
The following article is a translation (mostly MT). You can find the link to the original website at the end of it.
Swindler managed to escape from prison
Rui Trovão, 47 years old, managing partner of the company Contibatalha, is free from jail as long as he returns to customers five percent of the money he appropriated, which exceeds 800 thousand euro, within a maximum period of four years and eight months, decided yesterday the Court of Porto de Mós.
The panel of judges, chaired by Joana Morgado, proved a crime of abuse of trust and another of embezzlement, both in the aggravated and continuous form, condemning the defendant to a single sentence of four years and eight months,
suspended for the same period if he pays 40.000 euros to the injured parties, equivalent to 5% of the amount that was embezzled between 2005 and April 2009.
The judge argued that “it is not feasible to pay the total amount owed”, as it “jeopardizes the dignity and livelihood of the defendant”,
who last year earned 9.900 euros in income as a consultant and advisor to a company.
The defense of the defendant, in charge of Francisco Luís, should not appeal the decision, which he considers “balanced”, in the criminal part.
When reading the ruling, the judge who presided over the panel said that the “bulk of the accusation has been proven”, adding that Rui Trovão used the money from customers to “pay overdue debts” to Social Security and Finance, even forging checks, which later deposited in the Contibatalha accounts.
“There will be other circumstances that it was not possible to determine”, stressed Joana Morgado, defending that “the defendant did not tell the whole truth”. Despite this, she highlighted his “collaborative stance” and “sincere regret” shown at trial. In court, it was not proved that Rui Trovão obtained “personal benefits” or that he acted in “self-interest”, said the judge.
But there is no doubt that he “had the money” from clients intended to pay contributions and used it for “other purposes”.
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Swindler saves his assets
The accountant and former mayor of Batalha Rui Trovão, suspected of embezzling 1.7 million euros from clients, money that they trusted him to pay taxes, will have done everything to safeguard his assets before the scandal was made public – it was yesterday revealed at a meeting attended by the legal representatives of four dozen injured companies.
Representatives of 40 companies met yesterday in Batalha to define strategies for civil and criminal proceedings against Rui Trovão.
“Before this broke, he divorced his wife – although they continue to live together – and made deeds to transfer his assets to the names of other people”, denounced Carlos Crespo, managing partner of Cobermetal and one of those most affected by the scam.
According to the calculations he has made so far, the businessman has a debt of 295 thousand euros to the Tax Authorities and Social Security, which he thought was settled. Part of this money was diverted “by resorting to counterfeit checks”. Customers endorsed checks to the Social Security Institute or CTT for payment of contributions and delivered them to Contibatalha, the accounting office led by Rui Trovão. However, the name of the recipient was changed and the recipient of the funds was Contibatalha.
With this method, the former mayor left many of his clients in difficulty, now with accounts with debts whose amounts could lead to financial strangulation for companies. “It’s hard for me to accept that a person like that was able to do what he did to a community like ours, without sparing longtime family members and friends”, regrets Carlos Crespo. “If we don’t unite, we are encouraging fraud and crime”, said the businessman.
Hotels at 500 euros a night
“Rui was deluded with lives that he could not achieve. For this reason, he must be penalized and forced to pay what he owes us”, said one of the businessmen present at the Batalha meeting yesterday. In the various interventions, some extravagances of the accountant were mentioned, such as “paying 500 euros a night in a hotel, or traveling to Venice and Miami”, even in times of crisis. The injured parties consider asking for Contibatalha’s insolvency to try to recover the embezzled money.
Criticism to justice
The injured parties criticize the apparent apathy of the police and judicial authorities in relation to this case. “I’m surprised that they didn’t even go to Contibatalha”, lamented a businessman.
Appeal
The working group elected yesterday is making an overview of the amounts owed to deliver to the Civil Governor of Leiria, next Wednesday.
Forgiveness
The businessmen intend to obtain a total or partial forgiveness of the tax debt by the central administration. Otherwise, some companies may close down.
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Scam volume causes surprise
The civil governor of Leiria, Paiva de Carvalho, expressed surprise yesterday at the size of the scam – close to 1.7 million euros – of which the accountant and former mayor of Batalha Rui Trovão is suspected, admitting to asking the Government for a “exceptional regime” to help the injured.
“I was disturbed and surprised that this type of behavior by the accounting firm
took place over four or five years, without having been diagnosed by Social Security”,
said Paiva de Carvalho, after a meeting with the working group representing 49 of the 160 companies that have been tricked by Contbatalha.
These companies alone – to whom funds intended for Finance and Social Security were diverted – are responsible for 340 jobs and are grappling with” a debt of 1.1 million euro, not including fines and interest”, explained Carlos Crespo, director of Grupo Planeta.
At the meeting with the civil governor, the businessmen asked for debt forgiveness to avoid the closure of some companies. And they called for the swift intervention of the police authorities in order to “annul” the last deeds carried out by Rui Trovão. At the end of the afternoon, the group was received by the coordinator of the PJ of Leiria, in order to detail the contours of the scam.
A country where criminals and the powerful are systematically protected to the detriment of victims and its citizens is the definition of a dictatorship, which is why Portugal should leave the EU.
PORTUGAL ROBBED ME €130.000 EUR AND SIX YEARS OF MY LIFE!
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