Public Prosecutor investigates trips paid by NOS

The Public Prosecutor is already investigating the trips to China NOS offered senior executives from the Health Ministry, in June 2015.

ECO asked the Attorney-general Office if the executives from the Health Ministry who traveled to China would also be included in the inquiry opened this month, to which they replied: “we collected the evidence and decided to sent them to Lisbon’s Department for Investigation and Penal Action (DIAP) in order for them to be investigated”.

The case concerns the visit to Zheng Zhou hospital in China, promoted by Huawei to observe how the unit’s telemedicine system works. The visit was promoted by Huawei, but the trips, as ECO disclosed this Monday, were paid by NOS, the Portuguese partner-company to the Chinese enterprise, who paid around 12,500 euros for the plane tickets. The trip was taken from 2 to 15 of June, 2015, and 14 people were invited. Among the guests, there are five senior executives from Shared Services of the Ministry of Health: Rui Gomes, Nuno Lucas, Rute Belchior, Ana Maurício d’Avó and Artur Trindade Mimoso.

This month, the Public Prosecutor had already open an inquiry about the trips to China offered by Huawei to several Portuguese politicians, namely Nuno Barreto, Paulo Vistas, Sérgio Azevedo, Ângelo Pereira and Luís Newton. The investigation is, therefore, broadened to new people involved in this case.

The Portuguese Government is also investigating these cases. The Health ministry has confirmed it requested the intervention of the Central State Direct Administration Service (IGAS) to determine “any possible responsibilities”. The Portuguese Health minister Adalberto Campos Fernandes is expected to make a decision on the issue in the next couple of days. The Tax Authority is also investigating this case, since Carlos Santos, one of its executives, also went to China after being invited by a private company.