Controversies not new for Pacheco
Much before the Nadia Torrado case, in which he is the prime accused, the list of offences against Goa’s former tourism minister Micky Pacheco provides a record of his wayward behaviour
In 1997 he faced a cheating case in which he was acquitted. In 2002, just as he was nudging his way into the big political canvas, there were charges of criminal trespass when a restaurant was set on fire in Colva, south Goa. Acquitted in the case, Pacheco went on to become a minister in the then BJP-led coalition government.
But the propensity for explosive rage and abrasive language remained, and two incidents of assault followed. Several government officials refused to work under him, and the tourism industry seethed in anger to have to put up with him.
Last year a casino in a five star resort accused the NCP MLA of extortion. The case was transferred to the crime branch for investigation. But it was his wife Sara, who brought out into the open, a minister’s not-so-secret double-life. Accusations of bigamy apart, Sara filed three cases for forgery of documents in property transactions. Two of them are pending trial in Margao and one in Quepem.
The pressure of keeping the lid on so many scandals and affairs was building up, but the NCP leaders in Delhi chose to look the other way. They gave him so wide a berth that Pacheco believed he could soon take over the reins of the party in Goa.
Aide did jail stint for cheque bouncing
Former tourism minister Micky Pacheco’s aide Lyndon Monteiro, who is a co-accused in the homicide investigation in Nadia Torrado’s death, was convicted in 2002 by a Margao court in six cases of cheque bouncing, DHNS reports from Panaji. Activist lawyer Aires Rodrigues, who produced documents of the case, said Monteiro’s appointment as director and vice-chairman of the Goa Tourism Development Corporation in 2007 was illegal in the light of these facts. Monteiro, who was officer on special duty to the former tourism minister, also went underground after being summoned by the police.
