Fátima Felgueiras
Encyclopedia
Maria de Fátima da Cunha Felgueiras (married de Almeida e Sousa) (born April 21, 1954 in Rio de Janeiro
, Brazil
) is the mayor of the Felgueiras
municipality, in northern Portugal
.
, then capital city of Brazil
, from Portuguese parents. When she was 4 years old, the family returned to Portugal and settled in Felgueiras
, northern Portugal. She studied in a secondary school of Guimarães
and earned a degree in Germanic
Philology
from the University of Coimbra. Involved in local politics, Fátima Felgueiras was elected mayor of Felgueiras in 1997. Fátima Felgueiras has a daughter, Sandra Felgueiras, who is a well-known television reporter and journalist of RTP
public service television network.
office rent and phone bills, her new Audi, among others. Felgueiras faced a possible 25-year sentence, according to the Guimarães Appeals Court (Tribunal da Relação de Guimarães). Seventeen other Town Hall employees and private entrepreneurs were involved in the scandal. Police sources said the mayor escaped to Rio de Janeiro
(through Madrid and São Paulo) just before authorities received the warrant issued by the court. After several months in Brazil, and being the owner of a Brazilian passport, Fátima Felgueiras returned home to be arrested and released in less than 24 hours. She was re-elected for the Felgueiras Town Hall in October 2005, as an independent.
The trial was set to start in February 2007 but the case didn't produce any effect so far.
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
) is the mayor of the Felgueiras
Felgueiras
Felgueiras is a Portuguese civil parish , located in the municipality of Resende, in the older district of Viseu, Portugal. In 2001, the population was 315 inhabitants occupying an area of 8.4 km² .-History:...
municipality, in northern Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
.
Personal life
Fátima Felgueiras was born in Rio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
, then capital city of Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, from Portuguese parents. When she was 4 years old, the family returned to Portugal and settled in Felgueiras
Felgueiras
Felgueiras is a Portuguese civil parish , located in the municipality of Resende, in the older district of Viseu, Portugal. In 2001, the population was 315 inhabitants occupying an area of 8.4 km² .-History:...
, northern Portugal. She studied in a secondary school of Guimarães
Guimarães
Guimarães Municipality is located in northwestern Portugal in the province of Minho and in the Braga District. It contains the city of Guimarães.The present Mayor is António Magalhães Silva, elected by the Socialist Party.-Parishes:-Economy:...
and earned a degree in Germanic
Germanic languages
The Germanic languages constitute a sub-branch of the Indo-European language family. The common ancestor of all of the languages in this branch is called Proto-Germanic , which was spoken in approximately the mid-1st millennium BC in Iron Age northern Europe...
Philology
Philology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
from the University of Coimbra. Involved in local politics, Fátima Felgueiras was elected mayor of Felgueiras in 1997. Fátima Felgueiras has a daughter, Sandra Felgueiras, who is a well-known television reporter and journalist of RTP
Rádio e Televisão de Portugal
Rádio e Televisão de Portugal, S.A.,commonly known as RTP, is Portugal's public service broadcasting organization. It operates four terrestrial television channels and three national radio channels, as well as several satellite and cable offerings....
public service television network.
Corruption allegations
She was placed under investigation after a series of anonymous letters addressed to Cunha Rodrigues at the public prosecutor's office. The police inquiry produced more than 120 volumes. The mayor of Felgueiras, Fátima Felgueiras, hurried through the streets of the small northwestern Portuguese city in the early afternoon of May 5, 2003. She was late for a funeral. But before she arrived at the cemetery, she took a phone call, returned home—and disappeared. The then 49-year-old fugitive has been charged with 30 counts of corruption, embezzlement, prevarication and abuse of power and was suspected of managing a US$1 million "saco azul" (blue bag) to pay for her own electoral propaganda, Socialist PartySocialist Party (Portugal)
The Socialist Party , abbreviated to PS, is a social-democratic political party in Portugal. It was founded on 19 April 1973 in the German city of Bad Münstereifel, by militants from Portuguese Socialist Action ....
office rent and phone bills, her new Audi, among others. Felgueiras faced a possible 25-year sentence, according to the Guimarães Appeals Court (Tribunal da Relação de Guimarães). Seventeen other Town Hall employees and private entrepreneurs were involved in the scandal. Police sources said the mayor escaped to Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
(through Madrid and São Paulo) just before authorities received the warrant issued by the court. After several months in Brazil, and being the owner of a Brazilian passport, Fátima Felgueiras returned home to be arrested and released in less than 24 hours. She was re-elected for the Felgueiras Town Hall in October 2005, as an independent.
The trial was set to start in February 2007 but the case didn't produce any effect so far.