Isabel Soares and Rogério Pinto, former mayors of Silves, were ordered by the Court of Auditors to pay 267 euros, plus late payment interest, to the municipality, in the context of the “Viga d'Ouro” case. The court's decision, of January 17, was released this Tuesday by the current municipal executive led by Rosa Palma. The former mayors have already appealed the sentence.
The Court concluded that Isabel Soares and Rogério Pinto "are responsible for the practice of financial infringement, which resulted in losses for the Municipality of Silves, with the consequence of an obligation to reimburse the value of the damage caused".
The sentence was handed down following the judgment required by the Public Ministry, which took place at the end of 2017, "for the realization of any financial liabilities, taking into account the financial offenses indicted after an external audit of the Municipality of Silves".
According to a statement from the Silves Chamber, “according to the judges who signed the consolidated report of June 16, 2016, if it weren't for the intervention and negotiation efforts of the current municipal executive, Isabel Soares and Rogério Pinto would have to replenish amounts in the municipal coffers. far greater than the damage that the Court of Auditors found”.
This lawsuit has its origins in the “Viga D'Ouro” case, which dates back to December 2004, but whose repercussions also affect, according to the Chamber, «the current financial management of the Municipality of Silves, since principal debts and interest on late payment of more than five million euros have to be paid by October 2020».
According to the Municipality of Silves, “the evidence produced in the trial allowed the Court of Auditors to find that the former mayors of the Municipality of Silves omitted payments to the banks (formerly BES, BCP and CGD) that acquired the credits that the company “Viga D'Ouro" held over the Municipality of Silves, which gave rise to several lawsuits that culminated in the authority's obligation to make the coercive payment of the outstanding capital, plus substantial default interest, which resulted in substantial damage to the public purse, quantified at 668 thousand euros».
According to the Court, «the responsible Isabel Soares engaged in an ethical-personal attitude of indifference, acting unlawfully and with guilt, since she did not fulfill, in due time, the obligation to settle the debts she assumed on behalf of the Municipality of Silves with the banks, and, through the suspension of payments, led the autarchy to assume financial charges higher than those initially due, in violation of the legal norms to which it was obliged».
As for Rogério Pinto, the Court considered that, "after having assumed the presidency of the Municipality of Silves, he had the powers that allowed him to put an end to the situations of illegality that non-compliance with banks brought to the municipality and the consequences that resulted from it. they could work for the public purse, but he did nothing, which is why his conduct was equally censured and considered unlawful».
The Court also considered “that the conduct of Isabel Soares and Rogério Pinto, resulting from the non-timely payment of the credits they were obliged to as Presidents of the Municipality of Silves, gave rise to the lawsuits brought by the banks and the consequent occurrence of losses for the Municipality of Silves, based on the amount of interest for late payment (668.823,97 euros) at a later time, for the non-timely payment of the outstanding capital».
The Chamber of Silves says that Isabel Soares and Rogério Pinto "called for the Court to excuse their financial responsibility, which was ultimately denied by the judge, given the seriousness of the illegality of the facts and the value of the damage caused to the public purse."
However, the autarchy continues, "considering that the conduct of those responsible was deemed negligent, that they had no history of financial infractions, and given the personal impact of the conviction, the Court decided to reduce the amount of the amount to be replaced in the coffers from 668.823,97 euros to 267.752,58 euros».
Isabel Soares, contacted by Sul Informação, declined to comment on the court's decision, but said that an appeal was filed and accepted with "true arguments".
This sentence, according to the Chamber of Silves, "comes to confirm the conclusions that already resulted from the consolidated report of the 2nd Chamber of the Court of Auditors, of June 16, 2016, as well as from the external audit report contracted by the permanent municipal executive, which allowed reveal the practice of various irregularities during the terms in which Isabel Soares and Rogério Pinto were presidents of the Municipality of Silves».
For the autarchy, «this is another dark chapter of the “Viga D'Ouro” case, which ends, but in which Isabel Soares and Rogério Pinto are now condemned to pay the Municipality of Silves part of the damages caused to the public purse».
The current municipal executive “assumes the firm conviction that the financial responsibilities determined must necessarily be carried out in defense of the legality and public interest in the good administration of public funds”, concludes the statement.
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