Portuguese police carry out 34 raids over golden visa corruption suspicions

Portuguese officials are carrying out 34 searches across the country on suspicions of corruption surrounding the country's golden visa scheme, which gives resident permits to wealthy non-Europeans, the Prosecutor General's Office said on Wednesday.

"In this inquest, matters dealing with the attribution of gold visas are being investigated," the statement, published on the public prosecutor's official website, reads.

Debt-laden Portugal launched the Golden Visa scheme to attract investment in the country, giving non-European families the right to live in the country and travel in the Schengen area visa-free, in exchange for investing a minimum of 500,000 euros (550,667 U.S. dollars) on a property.

The searches will take place at a number of public bodies, namely the Secretary of State for Fiscal Affairs, the Immigration and Border Service, and the Finance Ministry among others, including several companies and private residences, the note adds.

The raids are part of Portugal's golden visa investigation, code-named "Operation Labyrinth," which led to the detention of 11 people in November last year, including the former president of the Institute of Registrars and Notaries, Antonio Figueiredo, who is currently in preventive detention. Portugal's Interior Minister at the time, Miguel Macedo, stepped down over the scandal. Endit