Eduardo Vítor Rodrigues was also made a defendant in Operation Babel

The mayor of Gaia, Eduardo Vítor Rodrigues, is one of the 12 defendants constituted, this Tuesday, in Operation Babel, but for reasons unrelated to urbanism.

According to JN, the investigation by the North Directorate, led by the Regional Department of Investigation and Penal Action, began about a year ago and aimed, in addition to suspected crimes of corruption, “practices aimed at the benefit of individuals in the recruitment sector of human resources and provision of services, by the targeted municipal executive”. The Observer adds that Eduardo Vítor Rodrigues will have been accused of suspicions related to the hiring of PS militants.

It should be noted that, this Tuesday, the Judiciary Police carried out searches in the Municipality of Gaia and Porto. At stake are suspicions of crimes of corruption and undue receipt of advantage related to the area of ​​urbanism. Seven people were arrested, including the vice-president of the Gaiense Autarchy, Patrocínio Azevedo. In Porto City Council, the mobile phone of Urbanism councilor Pedro Baganha was seized.

The searches, JN knows, took place in the cameras of Gaia and Porto and in other places, involving 130 criminal investigators from the PJ.

Among those held by the PJ is Elad Dror, CEO of the Fortera group, a company with Israeli capital that will build, in Gaia, the Skyline, the tallest building in the country, with 28 floors. The group has two more investments in Gaia.

The group said, in a statement, that “Elad Dror is at the premises of the Judiciary Police, in Porto, and that he will collaborate with the Justice to clarify any fact that may be attributed to him”.

“At this time, there is still no knowledge of the contours that will need to be clarified. The company has a relevant investment in the Gaia area and it may be around the same that it will be necessary to provide clarification. We reaffirm that we will actively collaborate with the investigation”, completes the company.

Fortera, which is headquartered at Rua do Rei Ramiro, has more than 20 projects in Portugal, spread across Gaia, Espinho, Porto and Braga, which include 1,000 apartments, 818 hotel rooms, in a total investment of 750 million euros and a construction area of ​​235 thousand square meters.