The Torres Vedras Court has sentenced a commercial company, in which the defendants (managers) were accused of the crime of qualified theft, for unlawful appropriation of electricity, to approximately 140,000€ (one hundred and forty thousand euros).
This process, initiated in 2015, has now had its sentence handed down, convicting the defendants of the practice of the crime for which they were accused, as well as the full payment of the compensation request due, plus interest until full payment. In effect, the three defendants, as managers of the company in question, were sentenced to 2 years and 6 months imprisonment each (suspended for execution), despite having no criminal record.
The rate of effectiveness in revenue recovery in litigation situations that go to court is around 85%, which is a good illustration of the care taken by E-REDES in sustaining each case and that fraudulent behaviour is penalized.
The practice of fraud and theft of electricity, besides being a crime, is a threat to the safety of people and property, in addition to affecting the entire value chain, including consumers, suppliers and the State.
The fight against this fraud, increasingly supported in the analysis and analytical treatment of the flows of energy transiting the network, in the use of specific innovative equipment in the specialization of operational teams, has allowed achieving relevant results for the electricity sector.
In particular, in the period between 2017 and 2020, the company recorded an annual average of about 60,000 notices related to illicit appropriation, corresponding to about 120 GWh/year of electricity, valued at more than 20 million euros (per year), pressing up the tariff.
Recently, the Government approved the decree-law that establishes the organization and operation of the national electricity system (SEN), with a reinforcement of the competencies of the distribution network operator in the issue of illegal appropriation of energy, both with regard to the means of action and the possibility of interruption in the event of fraud/theft, and the penalties imposed on entities that commit such fraud.
