The rabbi of the Jewish Community of Porto, Portugal, was last week arrested briefly over suspicions of corruption related to the concession of Portuguese citizenship to descendants of Sephardi Jews expelled in the late 15th century. This concession was, via Litvak, famously exercised by Russian oligarch and ally of Vladimir Putin, Roman Abramovich.
According to the law, approved in 2015, the certification of descent is carried out by the Jewish communities of Lisbon and of Porto, which are independent of each other. Under the decree, thousands have acquired Portuguese citizenship, which comes with a European Union passport. A similar law in Spain demands that applicants demonstrate knowledge of Spanish language and culture, but no such conditions exist in Portugal.
Although many wealthy Jewish magnates have used the law, the fact that Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich had been approved in 2021 came as some surprise, since there are hardly any Sephardi Jews in Russia. Both national and Jewish authorities initially defended the process, saying all rules had been followed, but further investigation raised questions on the legality of this and other approvals and the State opened an investigation which resulted in the arrest.
According to Portuguese police, Rabbi Daniel Litvak is suspected of corruption, forgery, money laundering and tax fraud. He was taken into custody on Friday, 11 March, as he was preparing to leave the country, and released after questioning in the early hours of Saturday.
Litvak, who is Argentinian, had to surrender his passport and cannot leave the country. He must present himself to the authorities upon request.
The Jewish community of Porto, Portugal’s second largest city, initially issued a statement denying any wrongdoing, but later published a second document distancing itself from the issue, saying that the certification process is carried out by the Rabbi alone, with no intervention from the rest of the community.
Although Abramovich has been sanctioned by the British Government, his Portuguese passport has protected him from EU measures. However, if it is discovered that he obtained his citizenship through fraudulent means he may be stripped of his citizenship.
Roman Abramovich, a billionaire, is considered to be closely tied to Vladimir Putin and the recent invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces has made the issue of his citizenship more pressing.
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