Reuters/AFP/Lisbon

Portuguese police have arrested former Socialist prime minister Jose Socrates and three other people in an investigation of suspected tax fraud, corruption and money-laundering, the Prosecutor-General’s office said yesterday.
The detention, the first involving a former premier in Portugal under democracy, follows arrests of other high-ranking officials or prominent people in separate inquiries in the past few months as prosecutors intensify a fight against corruption in a country notorious for its slow justice system.
Socrates was brought before a criminal judge for questioning yesterday afternoon after his apartment was searched.
The prosecutor’s office said the questioning and search were part of an investigation of suspicious banking operations and money transfers, but would not reveal more details.
It was not clear if the investigation was linked to Socrates’ time as prime minister between 2005 and 2011.
Police arrested Socrates, 57, at Lisbon airport late on Friday as he arrived from Paris.
He spent the night in a police station, according to a police official. The other three arrested individuals are linked to Socrates.
Socrates resigned as prime minister in the middle of his second four-year term in 2011 as an escalating debt crisis forced him to request an international bailout, which imposed painful austerity on Portugal.
His centre-left Socialist party leads in opinion polls ahead of next year’s general election.
Socialist leader Antonio Costa told party militants in a message that “we are all certainly shocked” with the detention, but added that “feelings of solidarity and personal friendship” should not influence the party’s policy or interfere in any way with the independence of the investigation.
“The party has to focus on mobilising Portugal in affirming an alternative to this government and its policy,” he wrote.
A snap election in 2011 brought to power the current centre-right ruling coalition, which introduced the unpopular austerity measures such as tax hikes and cuts in wages and pensions.
During his premiership, Socrates weathered several investigations, including allegations that he misused his position as environment minister in 2002 to allow the construction of a shopping mall.
He denied wrongdoing and faced no formal charges.
He has faced repeated questions over clearance he gave for the construction of a shopping mall on protected land near Lisbon when he was environment minister, just days before a 2002 general election in which the Socialists lost power.
An investigation into the so-called “Freeport” case, named after the shopping mall, was finally shelved in July 2010.
There have been questions, too, over the authenticity of the ex-premier’s university degree.
After he left office Socrates studied at the institute of policy studies in Paris before returning to Portugal to start a new career as a commentator on RTP public television.
Prosecutors have detained and are investigating several prominent people in separate corruption and fraud cases.
Last week, the head of Portugal’s immigration service, Manuel Palos, was arrested along with several other officials on suspicions of corruption linked to the issuing of so-called “golden visas” to wealthy foreign investors.
The inquiry also forced interior minister Miguel Macedo to resign.
Under the “golden visa” scheme, foreign investors buying property worth €500,000 ($620,000) or more and keeping it for at least five years receive residency rights in Portugal and, more importantly, visa-free travel throughout the European Union’s Schengen zone.
Portugal rolled out the programme in 2012 while grappling with a debt crisis.
Macedo, 55, who had been in the job since 2011, said he “had no personal responsibility” in the case but his “political authority” had been weakened by the scandal.
Deputy Prime Minister Paulo Portas said on Thursday that it would be a mistake to stop offering wealthy foreign investors the “golden visas”.
The arrest of the former Socialist leader comes at a bad time for Lisbon mayor Antonio Costa, who was set to be named as the main opposition party’s secretary general following a ballot in which he was the only candidate.
Socrates led the Socialists to their first majority in parliament in 2005 just a year after he was elected leader of the party.