The Judicial Court of Bragança began the trial of a case involving the Voluntary Firefighters of Mirandela, in which Edgar Trigo, former commander, Luís Carlos Soares, current commander, and the Humanitarian Association itself are accused. The case relates to the years between 2014 and 2017 and focuses on alleged crimes of embezzlement, abuse of power and falsification of documents related to funds from the Special Forest Fire Combat Device. The Public Prosecution estimates that the financial advantage obtained through the alleged scheme amounts to 121,524.99 euros, a sum whose restitution is requested through the joint conviction of the defendants.
According to the accusation, those responsible for command, in coordination with the then president of the board Marcelo Lago, now deceased, reported to the National Civil Protection Authority combat teams in numbers higher than those actually ensuring the shifts, with teams classified as "ghost teams". Subsequently, signed attendance sheets were sent to justify the processing of subsidies. The accusation also points to a second mechanism: a discount of five euros for each 24-hour shift completed by firefighters, with a firefighter who should receive 45 euros ending up receiving only 40, with the difference retained for the benefit of the association.
The trial has close to a hundred witnesses, mostly members or former members of the Mirandela Fire Corps, and is expected to continue for several sessions until the end of the year. During the investigation, around fifty firefighters were constituted as defendants, but the Public Prosecution ended up archiving the part of the case relating to these individuals, as there were insufficient indications of their criminal responsibility.
Luís Soares and Edgar Trigo contest the accusations, with the current commander stating he is innocent and defending that he never appropriated public funds nor contributed to any hidden financing, arguing that the confirmation of attendance signatures was not part of his duties. The trial, which originated from an anonymous complaint filed in 2019 and went through years of investigation, now aims to determine whether the facts described by the Public Prosecution actually occurred and who may be held responsible.
