Secretariat Chief of the Clube Naval convicted

For twenty years, Maria Augusta Costa served as the Secretariat Chied of the Clube Naval in Portimão (CNP). This week he has been convicted, in the city court, whereby the penalty is of 5 years and 10 months of effective imprisonment for crimes such as embezzlement and forgery.

The collective of judges gave as evidence that the woman, 46 years of age, seized more than 163,000 euros of the CNP, between the years 2007 and 2012.

"Noting that the president and treasurer of the CNP only conferred the cash sheet, not counting the money that was actually received," the defendant "she saw the possibility, due to the functions exercised, to subtract and make use of those amounts", said the team, stressing that Maria Augusta Costa, who resigned in 2012, "acted voluntarily and consciously".

The chief secretary actually used ATM cards titled by the CNP, using them "for her own advantage." In February 2012, the defendant forged a signature on a check of  about 600 euros. The actions of the defendant started to get suspicious when the official technical CNP accounts detected discrepancies between the values ​​of the bank accounts of the club and the accounting values ​​that were sent by Maria Augusta Costa.

In April 2012, the newly elected governing bodies decided to examine all documentation and detected the operation mode of the defendant. She will appeal the sentence.