Authorities detained Carla Salsinha, president of the Union of Commerce and Services Associations (UACS), along with a Castros Iluminações Festivas administrator and an employee, in connection with the operation.

Alberto Laplaine Guimarães, the general secretary of Lisbon City Hall and UACS president, is accused of benefiting Castros Iluminações Festivas, a Vila Nova de Gaia-based Christmas lighting company accused of orchestrating a scheme to influence multiple firms and manipulate public tenders.

Other accused include Carla Salsinha and a Castros administrator/employee, both linked to the Vila Nova de Gaia lighting company.

Judicial authorities carried out 26 searches across ten municipalities, including Lisbon, Tavira, Lamego, Maia, Figueira da Foz, Viseu, Trofa, Póvoa de Varzim, Ovar, and Santa Maria da Feira.

The searches involved 120 investigators and various experts, conducted at both private and public locations.

The operation targeted public procurement and private actors involved in Christmas lighting contracts, with authorities tightening scrutiny across multiple locales.

In Lisbon, Christmas illuminations for 2025 were unveiled late November and stayed in place until early January, under a protocol totaling 749,500 euros between the city and UACS.

Laplaine Guimarães was appointed in 2011, and PS calculations indicate a ten-year service limit would have required replacement by 2024.

The investigation stems from a complaint about alleged manipulation of contracting procedures for festive lighting across several municipalities, with Castros allegedly influencing additional firms to extend control.

The case concerns alleged manipulation of public procurement for festive lighting and potential illicit information access through financial arrangements, with the investigation ongoing.

Four defendants detained in the operation Lumen, tied to alleged economic crimes in Christmas lights contracts, were released on non-custodial measures, with a full coercive measures hearing scheduled.

The festive lighting project spanned 182 kilometers, featured 1,050 structures and 5,900 decorative pieces across 46 locations in the city.