In the operation carried out this Wednesday morning, in the north of the country, the Judiciary Police (PJ) detained eight people, suspected of crimes of active and passive corruption, falsification of documents and abuse of power.
DN knows that the alleged scheme would go through using grapes from outside the demarcated region to produce Vinho Verde as if it were original.
According to the PJ, 21 home and non-home searches were carried out, including at the headquarters of the Vinhos Verdes Region Viticulture Commission (CVRVV).
According to the same official source, the investigation, which began last August, originated from a complaint about a alleged scheme of collusion between Commission officials and businesspeople in the wine sector, with a view to favoring the latternamely, by omitting the duties of monitoring the origin and transit of grapes and their deposit in wineries and producers during the 2025 harvest.
This Commission has the functions of controlling production and trade and certifying wine products entitled to attribution of DO (Denomination of Origin) and GI (Geographical Indication)as well as companies related to the production and marketing of wines.
The PJ emphasizes that, with this conduct, he was “placed the wine quality certification process with DO is at riskwhich checks and certifies its origin, the grape varieties used, the vineyard treatment, vinification and aging processes, which characterize the wines of a given DO and distinguish them from the rest”.
The suspects’ objective would be benefit certain economic operators through the offering and acceptance of advantagesboth in goods and in money.
Os The detainees are four members of the CVRVV Inspection and Control Division and four businessmen from the green wine production and distribution sector.
The Northern Directorate of the PJ directed the investigation that “aimed at detecting and collecting evidence about the aforementioned scheme, confirming whether there was a violation of the certification rules and impeding the reinforcement of supervision, with the practices detected proving to be complex and very difficult to detect, despite the efforts of the Commission’s Management and special inspection operations conducted by the GNR and ASAE”.
During the course of Operation “Pure Green” 17 natural and legal persons were accused and assets in kind and cash were seized.
The detainees will be presented to the competent judicial authority at the Porto Criminal Investigation Court for the first judicial interrogation of the detained defendant and application of coercive measures deemed appropriate.
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