The inquiry into the Public Prosecutor's Office's actions regarding Luísa Salgueiro is closed

The inquiry procedure opened to "dispel doubts" and assess the "disciplinary relevance" of the actions of the Public Ministry regarding the constitution of the defendant of the Mayor of Matosinhos within the scope of Operation Web was closed, it was announced this Thursday

In response sent to the Lusa agency, the Attorney General's Office says the archiving was decided unanimously by the disciplinary section of the Supreme Council of Public Prosecutors (CSMP), "for not having been identified factuality disciplinary relevant".

The special investigation process had been determined by the attorney general, as president of the CSMP, on November 17, following doubts that had arisen in the public arena about the actions of the Public Prosecutor's Office (MP).

It was instituted under the terms of article 264.2 of the Statute of the Public Prosecutor's Office, which states that "the Superior Council of the Public Prosecutor's Office may order an inquiry into a complaint, report or information that does not constitute a manifest violation of the duties of public prosecutors.

"The investigation procedure is intended to ascertain the veracity of the participation, complaint or information, and to assess whether the conduct reported is likely to constitute a disciplinary offence," the article adds.

At stake is a process related to the appointment of Marta Laranja Pontes as chief of staff of the presidency in Matosinhos.

On November 11, Sábado magazine reported that Luísa Salgueiro, also president of the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities, was made a defendant by the MP in the Operação Teia case, investigated by the Porto DIAP (Department of Investigation and Prosecution), for suspected violation of public procurement rules, in dozens of direct adjustments.

According to Sábado, the hiring of Marta Laranja Pontes to head the socialist mayor's office would, according to the MP, "occurred through personal influence of the main defendants in the case [Operation Teia]: Joaquim Couto and his then-wife, Manuela Couto, and Laranja Pontes himself [former president of the Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto and father of Marta Laranja Pontes], who at the time was already given as close to Luísa Salgueiro."

The next day, a statement sent by the Matosinhos Mayor's Office of Support to the Presidency confirmed that the mayor had been made a defendant on October 24 and stated that "the only fact" imputed to Luísa Salgueiro "is to have chosen her former chief of staff by appointment without having opened a public competition.

"There are no public contests to choose the members of the mayors' offices. In fact, there are no known cases in which the heads of mayors' offices have been chosen through public contests," the local authority defended at the time.

Operation Teia, triggered on May 29, 2019, focused on the municipalities of Santo Tirso and Barcelos, as well as the IPO of Porto, and investigated suspected corruption, influence peddling and economic participation in business, translated in "fraudulent vitiation of tender procedures and direct adjustment", according to the PJ.

Marta Moura Laranja Pontes has worked in the Matosinhos City Council since September 1, 2010 where, until October 22, 2017, she held senior technical functions in the division of Promotion of Local Economy and Tourism.

On October 23, 2017, she took on the role of deputy of the support office to the presidency and, three years later, she was appointed as head of office. She is currently a councillor responsible for trade, civil protection, tourism and internationalization and investment.