The rabbi of the Jewish community in the Portuguese city of Porto, who is responsible for obtaining Portuguese citizenship for descendants of deportees from Spain, was arrested on Tuesday (Thursday) by state authorities on suspicion of aiding Russian-Jewish oligarch Roman Abramovich illegally obtain Portuguese citizenship.
As part of an ongoing investigation into how Abramovich and other personalities obtained citizenship, Rabbi Daniel Litvak was arrested by the National Criminal Investigation Agency in the Portuguese Ministry of Justice.
After his release, it was clarified that he was not allowed to leave the country and that he should appear before the authorities for questioning if necessary, the Losa news agency reported.
Abramovich received Portuguese citizenship last year as part of a law that allows descendants of Jews deported from the country at the time of deportation from Spain to obtain citizenship.
The candidates' pedigree was examined by experts in one of the Jewish communities in the country, for which Rabbi Litvak is responsible.
An investigation has recently been opened against the Jewish community in the country, on suspicion of approving recommendations for illegal citizenship, in part because there is no known history of Sephardic Jews in Russia, and Abramovich is a common surname of Ashkenazi descent.
The State Attorney's Office stated that there are suspicions of money laundering, corruption, fraud and forgery of documents in the process of granting citizenship to the descendants of deportees from Spain.
Rabbi Litvak was on his way to Israel when he was arrested, and was asked to hand over his passport.
The Jewish community in Porto denies committing the offenses, claiming its members are a target for the smear campaign.
According to community members, Rabbi Litvak oversaw the department that approves Portuguese citizenship based on criteria accepted by the government.
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