Álvaro dos Santos Amaro (born 25 May 1953) is a Portuguese politician of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

(PSD) who served as a

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

from 2019 to 2023. Amaro was elected as

following the 2019 European elections. In parliament, he served on the

Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI) is a committee of the European Parliament. Responsibilities of the Committee AGRI is the European Parliament committee responsible for: #The operation and development of the Common Agricul ...

. In addition to his committee assignments, he was part of the parliament's delegation to the

ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly The ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly was created to bring together the elected representatives of the European Union (the Members of the European Parliament) and the elected representatives of the African, Caribbean and Pacific states ("ACP c ...

. In June 2019, Amaro was named a formal suspect in the ''Rota Final'' investigation case, due to his alleged involvement in a fraudulent scheme of rigging public contracting procedures while mayor of Guarda. He made a 40,000€

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required. In some countries ...

deposit and took office as MEP the following month. Amaro's parliamentary immunity was lifted in February 2021 following an indictment for

malfeasance Misfeasance, nonfeasance, and malfeasance are types of failure to discharge public obligations existing by common law, custom, or statute. The Carta de Logu caused Eleanor of Arborea to be remembered as one of the first lawmakers to set up the ...

and

fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...

in obtaining EU funds for the ''GuardaFolia''

carnaval Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...

event in 2014. These charges were dropped in July the same year, for lack of concrete evidence. In April 2023, Álvaro Amaro was charged for malfeasance in public-private partnerships established while mayor of Gouveia, between 2007 and 2011. He was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison (suspended by a fine of 25,000€ within a year) and stepped down as MEP shortly after.

References

1953 births Living people 21st-century Portuguese politicians MEPs for Portugal 2019–2024 Social Democratic Party (Portugal) MEPs Social Democratic Party (Portugal) politicians {{Portugal-MEP-stub Portuguese politicians convicted of crimes