The Portuguese Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, can breathe easy. The case that has dogged him since it was learned that his family business, Spinumviva, had continued to receive contributions from companies after his arrival in government, has been diluted in legal proceedings. The Office of the Attorney General of the Republic said Wednesday afternoon that it had archived the investigation opened in March because it had found no evidence of criminal practices.
After requesting information from the companies that hired the Montenegrin company, from the Prime Minister himself and his two sons, who received the transfer of the company this year, investigators concluded that they did not detect any type of crime. The investigations were opened after the presentation of several anonymous complaints against the Prime Minister which denounced several possible irregularities, such as the existence of irregular payments to the family business or the invoicing of services provided at a price higher than market prices.
The preventive investigation is a tool that allows us to investigate a matter further when there is not yet sufficient evidence to justify opening a formal investigation. With the file announced Wednesday by the Prosecutor’s Office, the Prime Minister can face Parliament without the shadow of a scandal which caused the fall of his first government last March and the calling of new early elections, which earned him a more comfortable victory than the previous one, although without an absolute majority.
The electoral victory, added to the disaster of the Socialist Party which had denounced the existence of a conflict of interests in this affair, gave a political air to Montenegro, which considers that the polls have turned the page on the matter. However, the prosecution’s investigation is still ongoing. The legal file is therefore a great ball of oxygen for the Prime Minister who, despite his parliamentary dependence on other forces, intends to exhaust the legislature.
Spinumviva was founded by Montenegro in 2021, when he focused more on his professional work as a lawyer, and was transferred to his wife, Carla Montenegro, the following year, when he resumed his political activities. The company maintained its activity and among its clients were several companies which made monthly payments for various matters such as advice on data protection or corporate restructuring. These revenues were maintained when Luís Montenegro became Prime Minister. The fact that he was married communally made him a direct beneficiary of Spinumviva’s income, which could fall into the realm of conflicts of interest. This year, the couple left the family business in the hands of their two children.
About The Author
