Head of Madeira Tax Office Accused in Tax Evasion Scheme

The Public Prosecutor’s Office has brought a case against the Nacional Football Club for an alleged tax evasion scheme accusing the club of paying footballers through offshore accounts in order to avoid paying taxes. According to today’s Publico the document states that the scheme was mounted with the knowledge and consent of all members of the board, ‘composed by its president and eight vice-presidents’. Among the accused is João Machado, the head of the Madeira tax office, who was at the time one of the club’s vice-presidents. Only one of the vice presidents, Carlos Santos, then also head of the Public Prosecution in Madeira, was not accused. Since the Public Prosecutors cannot accuse their peers, he was subject to a separate process, which was later dropped.  The case dates to the 2002/2005 mandate and notes that both Machado and Santos resigned from the club leadership before the end of their respective mandates.