Francisco Pacheco (politician)

Francisco Xavier Pacheco (Mickky)[1] is a politician from the Indian state of Goa and the leader of the Goa Su-Raj Party.[2]

MLA Francisco Xavier Pacheco (Mickky)
Member of the Goa Legislative Assembly for Nuvem
In office 7 March 2012 – 18 March 2017
Minister of Rural Development
In office 8 November 2014 – 4 April 2015
Minister of Archaeology and Archives
In office 8 November 2014 – 4 April 2015
Minister of Tourism
In office 3 June 2002 – 14 June 2004
In office 25 June 2007 – 5 June 2010
Captain of Ports
In office 3 June 2002 – 14 June 2004
In office 17 December 2007 – 5 June 2010
Minister of Housing
In office 25 June 2007 – 5 June 2010
Minister of Agriculture
In office 25 June 2005 – 5 June 2007
Minister of Animal Husbandry
In office 25 June 2005 – 5 June 2007
Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs
In office 3 June 2002 – 14 June 2004
Member of the Goa Legislative Assembly for Benaulim
In office June 2002 – 30 Dec 2011
Personal details
Born	Benaulim
Political party	Goa Su-Raj Party
Other political affiliations	Goa Vikas Party Nationalist Congress Party United Goans Democratic Party Bharatiya Janata Party
Parents	Joao Francisco Pacheco Luiza Fernandes e Pacheco
References MLA Profile Previous Election Details

He has held portfolios of Rural Development, Archeology and Archives, Tourism, Captain of Ports, Housing, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, and Sports and Youth Affairs in the state cabinet.[1] He is a member of the Goa Legislative Assembly from Nuvem, and has served two terms in the past from Benaulim.[1] In 2015, Pacheco was convicted for assaulting a government official and sentenced to imprisonment for six months,[3] forcing him to resign from his ministerial post.[4]

Political career

Pacheco won the 2002 Legislative Assembly election as a member of the United Goans Democratic Party.[5] He later split and formed the United Goans Democratic Party (Secular), which merged with the Bharatiya Janata Party in January 2005.[6] He later joined the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and won the 2007 election.[5] Prior to the 2012 Legislative Assembly election, he left the NCP and joined the Goa Vikas Party (GVP).[7] Pacheco's wife Viola Pacheco was made the GVP president in 2012 he quit Goa Vikas Party and joined the Goa Su-raj Party; he lost the Nuvem Constituency in the hands of sitting ZP Member of Nuvem Wilfred Dsa.[8][9]

In 1981, while he was in seventh standard, Pacheco dropped out of school and became a tailor "to support his family". As per his affidavit in the 2012 Legislative Assembly election, he has assets worth ₹5.96 crore (equivalent to ₹9.0 crore or US$1.3 million in 2019).[10] He was an associate of former Chief Minister of Goa Churchill Alemao, but defeated him in the 2002 election.[11] Several criminal cases are registered against Pacheco; he was also alleged by the United States (US) authorities of his involvement in illegal immigration of Goan youth to the US and money laundering racket.[10][11]

Personal life

Belonging to a Catholic family,[12] Pacheco claims to be from a "very poor family".[13] He dropped out of school in 1981 when he was in seventh standard, and became a tailor "to support his family".[10][14] Later he moved to Bahrain and the US.[10] Pacheco says that he is still a fashion designer, and owns a showroom in Paris.[13] Pacheco is a fan of Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg, and was a bass guitarist in a local band.[13] Pacheco was the owner of a football club Fransa-Pax FC, which was dissolved in March 2006 as a protest against the All India Football Federation.[15]

Controversies

Pacheco has been involved in various controversies,[10] and has ten criminal cases registered against him.[14] In June 2006, Pacheco slapped a junior engineer Kapil Natekar for not attending his personal assistant's call.[4] Pacheco was sentenced to imprisonment for six months.[4] In June 2010, he was arrested over his alleged involvement in the suicide of his girlfriend Nadia Torrado.[11] He was forced to resign from his ministerial post in the then Indian National Congress-led government, but was later given a clean chit due to absence of evidence.[11] His estranged wife Sara Pacheco accused him of bigamy under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005.[11] Other cases against him are road rage, abusing and threatening a traffic police constable in Margao, forgery in property deals, and extortion of ₹3.69 lakh (equivalent to ₹7.5 lakh or US$10,000 in 2019) from a casino in 2009.[10][11]

Pacheco was probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation when the United States' Bureau of Diplomatic Security alleged his involvement in illegal immigration of Goan youth and a money laundering racket.[10][11]

References

1. "Shri Francisco Xavier Pacheco (Mickky)" (PDF). Goa Legislative Assembly. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
2. "Goa Vikas Party supremo to lend colour to new cabinet". Panaji: The Times of India. 14 November 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
3. Utkarsh Anand (12 May 2015). "Supreme court asks former Goa Minister Francisco Pacheco to 'surrender immediately'". New Delhi: The Indian Express. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
4. "Goa minister Francisco Pacheco, convicted for slapping government servant, resigns". Panaji: Zee News. 3 April 2015. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
5. "Shri Francisco Xavier Pacheco Previous Election Details". Goa Legislative Assembly. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
6. Sanjay Banerjee (27 January 2005). "Regional party MLA joins BJP". Panaji: The Times of India. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
7. "Pacheco joins Goa Vikas Party". Panaji: The Hindu. 1 January 2012. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
8. "Mickky opens offices at Loutulim, Nuvem". Margao: O Heraldo. 4 August 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
9. "Mickky yet to contact Viola, buddies clueless". Panaji: O Heraldo. 13 May 2015. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
10. Shalini Nair (7 May 2015). "The case of Francisco Mickky Pacheco: From humble beginning, to flashy lifestyle & run-ins with law". Mumbai: The Indian Express. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
11. "The rise and fall of Mickky" (PDF). O Heraldo. 4 April 2015. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
12. "Convicted Goa MLA wants pardon because of hypertension!". Oneindia. 1 August 2015.
13. Soutik Biswas (10 December 2003). "'Bling-bling' birthday for Goan politician". BBC News. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
14. "Francisco Xavier Pacheco". myneta.info. Association for Democratic Reforms. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
15. "Fransa to be disbanded: Pacheco". Rediff.com. 23 March 2006. Retrieved 9 October 2015.