the degree, declared he had been the target of "catty accusations", and defended the authenticity of the degree, though admitting he is not a fully chartered civil engineer. In his official biography at the Portuguese Government's official website Sócrates claimed to have already obtained the qualification of engineer. He later admitted that this was a "lapse", and the government website altered his CV, downgrading "civil engineer" to "diploma in civil engineering". In the interest of accuracy, he should have used "licenciado em engenharia civil" instead of "engenheiro". Before he had been granted the degree, he presented himself as an "engineer" when he was solely a "technical engineer". Portuguese Parliament documents with official information on Sócrates personal data were found, proving such inconsistencies. Sócrates and his staff replied to this by stating that it was probably a misunderstanding in the parliamentary services. After having the licenciatura diploma he used the title "engineer" in several official documents, despite the fact that his unaccredited degree in civil engineering from Universidade Independente was not legally recognized to allow for the use of the title "engineer"; a profession which is regulated in Portugal by the Ordem dos Engenheiros. José Sócrates was fiercely criticised by members of Portugal's democratic opposition in the Parliament regarding both proved and unproven issues related with this controversy. Nicolau Santos, a television journalist and a director of Expresso newspaper, criticised the controversial series of fait-divers published in Público and claimed that despite the extensive coverage of details, Público's investigation lead to "no definitive conclusion" and might be connected with other issues. In the same tone, several other media personalities, like SIC Notícias' journalist Ricardo Costa, also suggested controversially that SONAE corporation, the parent company of Público newspaper, was behind the beginning of the controversy due to a failed takeover bid of SONAE's telecommunications operator over the largest Portuguese telecom – Portugal Telecom. The complexity of the takeover bid involving the largest Portuguese telecom, prompted State intervention by the Autoridade da Concorrência (The Portuguese Competition Authority). It was found that a close friend of Sócrates, Armando Vara, was also awarded a diploma by the Universidade Independente days before he was appointed to a high ranking banking administration position in the state-run Caixa Geral de Depósitos, which in turn was strictly opened to candidates holding at last one academic degree in any subject. Investigation State authorities investigated the affair and archived the file