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Portuguese gov't sets up inquiry into alleged VIP list

Xinhua, April 9, 2015 Adjust font size:

Lisbon's Department for Investigation and Penal Action has set up an inquiry into an alleged VIP list which shielded prominent figures from paying tax, the Attorney General's Office announced on Wednesday, according to Lusa News Agency.

Last month, the head of Portugal's Tax and Customs Authority Antonio Brigas Afonso stepped down following the allegations.

The government has denied any such involvement. But the country's largest opposition party, the Socialist Party, pressured the government to look into the case, claiming there was "strong evidence of criminal practices."

Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho last week promised to take the investigation as far as possible.

Recently, Passos Coelho was accused of not paying his social security contributions for a period of five years.

Passos Coelho admitted that he had delayed the payments because he wasn't aware of his duty to pay or didn't have the money at the time.

The government has been applying harsh austerity, including tax hikes, to meet the country's 78 billion euros (84.13 billion U.S. dollars) bailout which the country ended in May last year. Endit