MP should file investigation into Pedro Nuno soon

The Attorney General's Office is expected to announce in the coming days the archiving of the preventive investigation opened against Pedro Nuno Santos . The now former socialist leader — who formally left office this Saturday during the meeting of the PS National Committee — was heard on Friday afternoon at the premises of the Central Department of Investigation and Criminal Action (DCIAP), as reported by SIC Notícias and confirmed by Observador.

Observador understands that Pedro Nuno Santos provided all the clarifications requested by the magistrate in charge of the preventive investigation opened by order of Attorney General Amadeu Guerra, and that his answers were considered enlightening and are decisive in closing the case. In other words, no criminal investigation should be opened against the former Secretary General of the PS.

Pedro Nuno Santos was asked about the origin of the funds that financed the acquisition of two houses in 2018 and 2022 — one in Lisbon and the other in Montemor-o-Novo — for a total value of around 1.3 million euros . The socialist presented the bank statements — which the MP had requested last week , as reported by Observador — which explain in detail the origin and all the financial circuits involved and answered questions on the same topic.

Observador asked the former PS leader for a reaction, but Pedro Nuno Santos declined to make any comment on the MP's investigation.

According to Observador, the so-called housing case was not the only issue to be the subject of a complaint filed with the Attorney General's Office (PGR) against Pedro Nuno Santos. As an official source from the PGR confirmed on April 16 — when Observador broke the news about the opening of a preventive investigation into the then leader of the PS — this only happened “following the receipt of complaints and with a view to gathering evidence”. In other words, more than one complaint was filed.

At the time, Observador was only able to confirm one complaint regarding the acquisition of properties in Lisbon and Montemor-o-Novo. We now have confirmation that at least two more complaints were filed.

One involves Américo Santos, Pedro Nuno Santos' father, and the business group that is based around Tecmacal. It was reported that the Tecmacal group — of which Pedro Nuno was a shareholder with 0.5% of the share capital — had allegedly received European funds in violation of the rules stipulated for the use of such public funds allocated by the European Union to Portugal and which also require contributions from the State Budget.

The complaint was assessed by the Public Prosecutor's Office and the PJ — which assists the prosecutor in the analysis of the preventive investigation — and was considered unfounded. On the other hand, the Public Prosecutor's Office has a rule of waiting for complaints from the control bodies about alleged misappropriation of European funds — complaints that are usually accompanied by audits that substantiate suspicions of misappropriation of funds. In this case, there is no audit or documentary evidence to prove the alleged practice of a crime.

Another complaint filed with the PGR concerns the fact that Pedro Nuno Santos declared to Parliament, during the legislature that began in 2005, that he lived in São João da Madeira when he had a house in Lisbon, just a few metres from the Assembly of the Republic. The former socialist leader received around 203 thousand euros in travel allowances — which led to a heated argument between Joana Amaral Dias and Pedro Nuno Santos during the election campaign.

The MP once again considered that the suspicions were unfounded. Especially because Parliament itself never followed up on the case because it considered that there was no irregularity. Pedro Nuno Santos' situation is similar to that of other MPs who, despite having houses in Lisbon, have other addresses in the constituencies for which they were elected.