The Jewish community in Oporto, Portugal, announced on Sunday that it would be suspending confirmations of ancestry for citizenship applications until further notice after Chief Rabbi of Oporto Daniel Litvak was arrested last Thursday on suspicion of helping Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich secure Portuguese citizenship to which he is not legally entitled.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
According to reports in the Portuguese media, an investigation has also been opened into the decision to grant citizenship to French-Israeli millionaire Patrick Drahi, who was born in Morocco.
Litvak was released from custody on Friday and indicted on counts of accepting bribes, money laundering, and tax evasion. Significant sums of money from questionable sources were discovered in his bank account.
The Oporto community (Comunidade Israelita do Porto - CIP) issued a press release in which it said that Litvak was a religious authority recognized by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and that criminal proceedings against him were "based on unbelievable anonymous denunciations."
The announcement said that Abramovich had paid the CIP 250 euros to research his application, but that leaders of CIP had been subjected to searches because of contacts "they never had" with registry offices. According to the community, it is technically impossible to embezzle funds from the CIP.
Therefore, the CIP said it has decided that it is no longer interested in working with the Portuguese government to certify the ancestry of Sephardic Jews applying for Portuguese citizenship.
Itay Mor, president of the group Over the Rainbow Portugal, says, "This is a serious, concerning incident and there is no doubt that members of the community have difficult days ahead.
"However, I believe that in light of the welcome work that they've done in the past seven years and the Portuguese Jewish community's huge contribution, things will calm down and activity will begin again. Because of these developments, we've received a wave of inquiries about help for people in the middle of getting [Portuguese] citizenship and also inquiries from people who rejected the move and now want to begin in and implement their right to citizenship as soon as possible," Mor said.
"It's important to remember that the Jewish community board in Lisbon also issues confirmation of ancestry for the citizenship application process," Mor noted.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
