At issue in the BES Angola (BESA) case, which will also bring former BES administrators Morais Pires, Rui Silveira and Hélder Bataglia to trial, are crimes of aggravated breach of trust, money laundering and aggravated fraud.
The reading of the instructional decision on the BES Angola (BESA) case was given by the investigating judge Gabriela Lacerda Assunção, of the Central Criminal Instruction Court, in Lisbon, a judge who also validated the accusation that had been requested by BES in Liquidation (which is an assistant in the process) so that the scope of application of the crime of fraud could be expanded.
As the lawyers for BES in Liquidation, Miguel Coutinho and Ana Mendes Martins, told Lusa at the end of the hearing, the judge agreed to extend the facts relating to aggravated fraud until 2007, which allowed Álvaro Sobrinho to also be covered by this crime, in addition of the crimes of aggravated breach of trust and money laundering of which he is accused by the MP.
The MP accused Álvaro Sobrinho of 18 crimes of aggravated breach of trust (five of which were co-authored) and five of money laundering, and the former president of BES, Ricardo Salgado, of five crimes of breach of trust and one of qualified fraud (all co-authored).
The MP also accused Amílcar Morais Pires of a crime of breach of trust and another of fraud, Helder Bataglia for a crime of abuse of trust and Rui Silveira for a crime of fraud.
In the investigative debate, held on June 3rd, the MP, through prosecutors Rita Madeira and Sandra Oliveira, had requested that the five defendants be brought to trial "in the exact terms of the accusation", which the judge validated this Monday.
Judge Gabriela Assunção highlighted that the MP's evidence is "extensive", including computer and financial expertise, various documentation, witness statements, dozens of searches, letters of request to investigate the movement of bank accounts abroad and telephone interceptions.
The judge recalled that it is enough to have "sufficient evidence" to take the defendants to trial, and it is now up to the MP on trial to prove this evidence included in the prosecution files.
Gabriela Assunção dismissed and denied all the alleged nullities and procedural irregularities invoked by the defendants' defense, with regards to Ricardo Salgado's alleged inability to exercise his defense due to suffering from Alzheimer's, the judge recalled that the former banker was already subject neurological examinations, having determined that despite some cognitive deficit he is capable of reasoning and understanding the facts, meaning his defense is not compromised.
Ricardo Salgado, who was already sentenced to more than six years in prison in another related BES case, did not appear or make statements during the BES Angola instruction, as recalled by the judge.
Upon leaving the court, Soares da Veiga, Morais Pires' lawyer, stated that it was an "expected decision" because the "instruction is transformed into a procedural phase that serves no purpose", because all the evidentiary steps requested by the defense were rejected.
Adriano Squilacce, Ricardo Salgado's lawyer, contested the judge's conclusion that the former banker is in a position to exercise his defense, considering it "indisputable" that his constituent suffers from Alzheimer's disease.
The indictment of the BESA case was announced in July 2022 and concerns the granting of financing by BES to BESA, in Interbank Money Market (MMI) credit lines and bank overdrafts. Due to this allegedly criminal activity, on 31 July 2014, BES was exposed to BESA in the amount of close to 4.8 billion euros.
