Former
Portuguese prime minister Jose Socrates has been arrested on suspicion of tax
evasion. It's the second potential scandal to hit Portuguese politics in a
week, after the interior minister's resignation last Sunday.
Deutsche Welle, 22 Nov 2014
Former
Socialist prime minister Jose Socrates was arrested at Lisbon airport late on
Friday as part of an inquiry into tax fraud, corruption and money laundering,
the public prosecutor's office said.
Socrates
was expected to appear in court on Saturday, local media reported. He is one of
four people detained in connection with the case, following a string of police
raids involving more than 60 officers.
The
prosecutor's office added that the investigation centered on bank operations
and money transfers from an unknown source. It stressed, however, that the case
was not linked to the money laundering investigation which led to the July arrest of Ricardo Salgado, the former head of crippled Portuguese lender Banco
Espitiru Santo (BES).
Socrates
led the Socialists to their first majority in parliament in 2005, one year
after he was elected leader of the party.
The
57-year-old served as prime minister for six years, during which time he was
involved in several controversies, including his decision to approve the
construction of a shopping mall on protected land near Lisbon. Questions were
also raised over the authenticity of his university degree.
Socrates
resigned in 2011 after the Social Democrat opposition rejected his minority
government's fourth austerity package in less than a year. Just two weeks later
Portugal was forced to request a bailout package from the European Union and
International Monetary Fund - a move Socrates had resisted.
Second
scandal in a week
Last
Sunday, Portuguese Interior Minister Miguel Macedo announced that he was
stepping down in the wake of a corruption scandal involving several senior
government officials.
The
officials were arrested as part of a probe into money laundering and
influence-peddling around "golden visas" - a scheme allowing foreign
investors who buy property worth 500,000 euros ($620,000) to receive residency
rights in Portugal, as well as visa-free travel throughout the European Union's
Schengen zone.
The program
was launched in 2012 during the country's debt crisis. "Golden visas"
have so far have been issued to around 1,500 people, most of them Chinese.
nm/ipj (AFP, dpa, Reuters)
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