The Mayor of Ribeira Grande, in São Miguel, has been charged by the Public Prosecutor’s Office as part of Operation Nortada.
Alexandre Gaudêncio, Ribeira Grande’s mayor, admits that he has received notification of the indictment but did not want to make any statements until the investigation had been completed.
“We’re not going to make any statements until the investigation is complete because there may still be changes to the indictment,” said Alexandre Gaudêncio in statements to Lusa. According to Antena 1/ Açores (Portuguese Public Radio in the Azores), the mayor is accused of 32 crimes.
Passive corruption, prevarication, abuse of power, falsification of documents, and economic participation in businesses while in public office are the charges against him.
In addition to Alexandre Gaudêncio, there are 11 other defendants, including the vice-mayor of the Ribeira Grande municipality, Carlos Anselmo, and the head of the office supporting the presidency, Martinho Botelho.
The radio station confirms that businessmen Nuno Costa, João Estêvão Macedo, Miguel Fernandes, Gui Martins, Pedro Correia, Filipe Tavares, Jacinto Franco, Paulo Silva, and Hernâni Costa, the current president of the Regional Institute for Agrarian Planning (IROA), have also been charged.

OPERATION NORTADA
Operation Nortada began in 2017 when the Judicial Police (PJ) investigated several deals between the Ribeira Grande City Council and private companies in the entertainment production, land-use planning, and urban planning sectors.
According to the PJ, there were suspicions of “repeated violations of public procurement, urban planning, and land-use planning rules,” which favored private individuals and harmed the public.
One of the contracts under investigation was made with the Brazilian artist MC Kevinho as part of the artist’s concert in the municipality.
In 2019, Alexandre Gaudêncio resigned as leader of the PSD in the Azores.
In 2021, he ran for a third term on the Ribeira Grande City Council and won the elections.

in Diário Insular-José Lourenço-director

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Cultures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance)  at California State University, Fresno–PBBI thanks the sponsorship of the Luso-American Development Foundation from Lisbon, Portugal (FLAD).