Alentejo: Romanian criminal network led by clan Bambaloi, He won over 800 thousand euros with exploited.
More than eight hundred thousand euros, It was billed by four angariadoras companies of Romanian workers to pick olives, controlled by clan Bambaloi, created and led from Vila Nova de Milfontes. Four Portuguese, two in custody and two in freedom, involved in the process.
The Bambaloi clan of Romanian origin, headed by Victor and Antonica, husband and wife, aided by two daughters and a son, This fled to justice, and two nephews, He created and led, from Vila Nova de Milfontes, a criminal network that prosecutors, defined as: "Organized human structure and stable and hierarchical logistic in four levels, with distinction of responsibilities of tasks and gains ".
The network led Bambaloi, It was composed of 26 elements, 5 of which women, aged 20 and 63 year old, four nationalities. Eighteen are in custody, one under house arrest with electronic bracelet, three fugitives to justice, with the European arrest warrant and four in freedom, by term of identity and residence (TIR).
Each of the defendants is accused of 1 criminal association and crime 35 trafficking offenses people, and three of those accused of 1 prohibited weapon detention crime.
According to the order for prosecution to the LN had access, the dome of the network "recruited all other elements", between them, the lawyer Hugo Machado, who supported "the control of workers, women who were forced to engage in the prostitution, in money collection that explored were subject to pay, still exerting physical and psychological violence ", a real climate of terror.
The structure was supported by four companies, created by the accused Hugo Machado, and used as a cover, to the contractual link with farms and invoicing. According to the investigation could determine, that between September 2011 and 18 November 2015, date of the transaction "Tightrope" carried out by the National Counter-Terrorism Unit (UNCT) the Judicial Police (PJ), in the districts of Beja, Serpa, Odemira and Torres Vedras, which led to the arrest of Bambaloi and most of the group, the four companies earned over 800 thousand euros.
As the lawyer Hugo Machado, research found that this "raised many checks" after two of the companies in Romania, but which were endorsed, value not exceeding 23 thousand euros.
Inspectors UNCT qualify even after the arrest of the accused, the attorney got a proxy of the Romanian citizens accused, a power of attorney, granting him full direct to any matter. Given that says the accusation that Hugo Machado contacted owners of farms who were funding the undertaking concerned and received by bank transfer over 13.400 euros.
suspicious death
The steps taken by the PJ, in September 2015, two months before the arrests, aparece to death by Romanian Iliuta Bonculesco, that the researchers "has not been fully clarified how it fell from the apartment access stairs where he lived and died. When the house search Hugo Machado lawyer's office, in Beja, PJ found a manuscript paper which stated that "Yordan and Mustafa fled in the car when Iliuta died".
The survey, various extracts which were extracted, They gave rise to other processes, namely procuring.
judicial network situation
probation: 12 Romanian, 4 Bulgarian and 2 português, Beja and Serpa, including the lawyer. house arrest: 1 Bulgarian. Escape to justice: 3 Romanian. TIR: 2 Portuguese, Head Gorda / Beja and Serpa, 1 Ukrainian and 1 Romanian.
Prison sentences
criminal association crime: group leaders (Victor and Antonica): 2 a 8 years in prison. other defendants: 1 a 5 years in prison.
Trafficking in persons: 3 a 10 years in prison, increased by one third (accused of 35 crimes).
Teixeira Correia
(journalist)
