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Braga IT company cuts wages of 350 employees by 20% by the end of the year

Five of the 13 defendants accused of stealing more than two million euros from attacks on ATMs were today sentenced in Coimbra to effective prison terms between the ages of nine and a half and 17, seven others were acquitted and one was sentenced to a suspended sentence. .

Of the five – who were already in pre-trial detention – two were sentenced to 17 years, one to 14 years, another to 10 and another to nine and a half years.

The Coimbra Court today read the sentence to 13 defendants suspected of having stolen more than two million euros in attacks on at least 87 ATMs across the country.

The sentence was read in the Auditorium of the Rectory of the University of Coimbra, after a large part of the trial took place at the Faculty of Law, due to the covid-19 pandemic, in order to ensure the physical distance between defendants, lawyers, assistants and judges .

The 13 defendants are accused by the Public Ministry of belonging to a group that reportedly carried out more than 80 thefts between September 2016 and December 2017. Three of the main suspects were arrested by the Judiciary Police (PJ) when they returned from another assault.

The robberies took place in several districts, such as Lisbon, Setúbal, Santarém, Évora, Beja, Leiria, Coimbra, Porto and Braga, in an action that resorted to explosions to assault ATM machines, the accusation says, to which the Lusa agency had access. .

Before the thefts, members “carefully selected ATMs”, trying to understand the make and model of the terminal, through debit card movement queries.

For the assault, the group resorted to previously stolen cars and used license plates also stolen and corresponding to other vehicles, describes the Public Ministry (MP).

At the scene, it was customary for the defendants to spray the video cameras of the recording circuits, take several pieces of clothing with them to change after committing the crimes and use portable radio transmitters / receivers so as not to use mobile phones, the MP alleges.

According to the prosecution, for the assault, in addition to the material needed for the theft, such as acetylene gas cylinders and hoses, they carried firearms, such as revolvers and AK-47 rifles, as well as fire extinguishers that could sprinkle against police vehicles in persecution case.

The companions of two of the main members of the group mediated contacts with other members and hid items used in the robberies, normally using the four garages they had in Loures, Oeiras, Cascais and Alcobaça.

The group’s action ended when, after a theft in Torres Novas, when they arrived at the Alcobaça warehouse with the money, they were intercepted by elements from the PJ and GNR, who ended up detaining them.

The three main members of the group were accused of several crimes of theft, possession of a prohibited weapon, forgery of documents, explosion, receipt and money laundering.

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