Named 'Angola desk', this PLMJ unit had as partner in charge Pedro Metello de Nápoles, who was heard at the 20th session of the trial in progress at the Central Criminal Court in Lisbon. "Between 2012 and 2015 I was responsible for the firm's connection to Angola. Portuguese lawyers can't practice in Angola, so my role was a little limited," he explained.
The witness, who listed the members then belonging to the 'Angola desk', was also questioned about possible connections to the 'Football Leaks' sphere, but also to 'Luanda Leaks', which in January 2020 exposed alleged financial schemes of businesswoman Isabel dos Santos and her husband, Sindika Dokolo, which would have allowed them to withdraw money from the Angolan public treasury through tax havens. However, she avoided commenting on these matters.
"I don't think I can answer that question without thinking about concrete clients, so I prefer not to answer, even for a matter of professional secrecy. I prefer not to speak", justified Pedro Metello de Nápoles, in a similar answer to that of many other PLMJ lawyers before the panel of judges presided by Margarida Alves.
The connection to the firm's department for Angola was also evident at the hearing this Tuesday of lawyer Joana Marques dos Reis, who joined PLMJ in 2014 and was part of the 'Angola desk' until last month. A continuous act, she also emphasized that she was not able to comment on the possible existence of material related to 'Football Leaks' or 'Luanda Leaks' on her computer or in her electronic mailbox.
Joana Marques dos Reis was also the first witness to accurately specify the date of the meeting held at the firm - 28 January 2019 - to report to the lawyers the extent of the intrusion into the respective computer system, in response to a question already raised several times by Rui Pinto's defense.
Five other lawyers connected to PLMJ were also heard in the afternoon: Diogo Perestrelo, Pedro Silva, Patrícia Mendes, Lin Man and Ricardo Oliveira.
For this Wednesday are scheduled the auditions of the former Doyen Sports Administrator, Nélio Lucas, as well as the lawyer Pedro Henriques, also connected to the former investment fund representative.
Rui Pinto, 31 years old, is responsible for a total of 90 crimes: 68 of undue access, 14 of violation of correspondence, six of illegitimate access, targeting entities such as Sporting, Doyen, PLMJ Law Firm, the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) and the Portuguese Attorney General's Office (PGR), as well as for computer sabotage to the Sporting's SAD and extortion, in the manner attempted. This last crime concerns Doyen and it was the one which also led to the indictment of the lawyer Aníbal Pinto.
The creator of 'Football Leaks' has been at liberty since August 7th, "due to his collaboration" with the Judiciary Police (PJ) and his "critical sense", but he is, for security reasons, part of the witness protection program in an undisclosed location and under police protection.
