Lisbon, July 21, 2025 (Lusa) - The Public Prosecutor’s Office has charged 18 defendants with dozens of crimes for allegedly issuing fraudulent medical prescriptions and death certificates over a three-year period, the Lisbon Regional Prosecutor’s Office (PGRL) announced on Monday.

“In 2022, 2023 and 2024, the defendants accessed platforms for the exclusive use of qualified professionals, namely platforms used in the National Health System, fraudulently issuing medical prescriptions, death certificates and other documents,” the PGRL said in a statement.

According to the statement, the defendants also illegally accessed and exploited “Social Security IT services”.

At the same time, they allegedly sent mass emails intended “to mislead third parties about the existence of alleged debts to credible entities – such as EDP, EDP Comercial, Endesa, CTT – and to obtain payment of sums of money from those third parties through entities and references under their control”.

Authorities suspect they created a website “for the anonymous and persistent sharing of third-party personal data”.

The Department of Investigation and Penal Action (DIAP) in Lisbon brought the charges on 15 July and states that they involve the alleged commission of “dozens of crimes of aggravated unlawful access and computer fraud”.

According to the PGRL, the prosecution accuses the defendants of document forgery, aggravated fraud, money laundering, computer fraud, possession of a prohibited weapon, abuse of a guarantee card or payment card, device or data, persecution, invasion of privacy, abuse and simulation of danger signals, invasion of privacy, extortion, threats and public incitement to commit a crime.

Three of the 18 defendants are awaiting the outcome of the “particularly complex” proceedings in preventive detention.

IB/ADB // ADB.

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