According to national broadcaster RTP, the owner of the property lives abroad and did not have a licence to use the villa for such purposes.
Twenty-two elderly people reportedly paying up to €800 a month to stay in the three-storey property, were removed from it. Three employees, among them a cook, were working at the home at the time.
According to complaints and a former employee who quit, conditions at the home were degrading and precarious. Social security was allegedly warned about the set-up a year ago, but only now took action.