Álvaro Sobrinho was being interrogated by Judge Carlos Alexandre at the Central Criminal Investigation Court (TCIC), in Lisbon.
Lawyer Artur Marques said he could not provide further details on whether there are other coercive measures or new facts that have been presented by the Public Ministry during interrogation, adding that he will appeal the coercive measure, with which he does not agree.
"A bond of six million euros has been fixed, to be provided by any means permitted by law. This is a normal decision in court. It is a decision with which we naturally do not agree, and which we will appeal," he told reporters. at the exit of the TCIC.
Excusing himself from an impediment to providing further clarification, Artur Marques also said that during the four hours of interrogation, the issue of possible seizures of Álvaro Sobrinho's property was not addressed.
"There are no arrests, none of that has been discussed", said the lawyer, confirming that his constituent is prevented from leaving Portugal until the bond is provided.
However, in a statement, the Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSM) confirmed the security deposit of six million euros and the ban on Álvaro Sobrinho leaving Portugal until he has provided the guarantee, adding that the former president of BESA is also obliged to present quarterly to the Portuguese authorities and subject to the "prohibition of leaving outside the Schengen zone, with the concomitant immediate delivery of their passports".
Stressing that the process has been ongoing since 2011, Artur Marques stressed in relation to Álvaro Sobrinho that "there is not the slightest non-compliance on the part of the defendant".
"The defendant always appeared voluntarily in court whenever he was asked, he always gave his collaboration in this regard to the Justice.
Naturally, this is an element that makes us disagree with the rationale of this measure, which consisted of the danger of flight ", he said.
Álvaro Sobrinho was only subject to a term of identity and residence. The former president of BESA is said to have been the beneficiary of 352 million euros through three Angolan companies, to which another 148 million can be added through two offshore companies.
On Tuesday, the name of Álvaro Sobrinho had already been targeted by an editorial investigation, which released new documents about the participation of BESA and its former president in a scheme to divert millions of dollars from a social housing project in the country.
According to a statement from the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), available on the organization's website, one that is part of the team that investigated the Panama Papers and Suisse Secrets 'dossiers', " Álvaro Sobrinho, who led an Angolan bank that collapsed with billions of dollars in unexplained debt, is linked to a scheme to divert hundreds of millions of dollars from an Angolan government-backed social housing project," in 2009.
At issue is the bank's participation in a financing for the construction of a social housing that ended up never happening, and that researchers say involves the embezzlement of 750 million euros, initially approved for the project that never happened.
