A 63-year-old foreign woman and a 62-year-old Portuguese man, suspected of a fraudulent scheme involving projects related to solar energy, were accused of the crime of qualified breach of trust, revealed this Monday, February 13, the Public Prosecutor's Office ( MP).
The scheme encompasses three companies: TDF, Phoenix and Wildcottage.
The TDF company is dedicated to carrying out projects related to solar energy and Phoenix is a financial company that lends money, subject to the payment of interest and fees, to finance projects.
Now, according to the Public Prosecutor's Office, «TDF asked Phoenix for US$2.100.000 to carry out a project at the University of Egerton, located in Nakaru, Kenya».
In order to guarantee compliance with the financing contract, «the company TDF undertook to deliver to a third depositary (escrow), the amount corresponding to 8% of the amount financed».
On September 4, 2019, TDF and Phoenix entered into a loan agreement in which Wildcottage was appointed third depositary (escrow agent).
But this society – Wildcottage – also belongs to the defendants.
This Wildcottage was responsible for «keeping the money in an account», functioning as an independent entity, until all the obligations of the parties to the business are fulfilled.
Except that, in October of the same year, TDF deposited around 168 thousand euros in a Wildcottage bank account, domiciled in a bank in the Algarve, which led the defendants to withdraw the money they had spent on their own benefit.
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