Manuel Pinho’s defense calls for acquittal and says it expects justice in the EDP case

The defense of former Economy Minister Manuel Piño demanded this Wednesday an acquittal of the crimes brought before the EDP trial and expressed hope that the court would bring justice to the former ruler.

At the end of his final arguments at the Central Criminal Court of Lisbon, lawyer Ricardo Sa Fernandez resumed his arguments from the previous day, continuing to deny the existence of corrupt practices on the part of the former minister (2005-2009), and presented an explanation. on charges of money laundering and tax fraud, in short: “I hope for justice.”

“I am very calm when I say that Manuel Pinho was not in the employ of BES. He was not the BES minister, it would be deeply unfair and historically incorrect to say so,” said a former spokesman for the governor, who is supported by the Public Ministry. (the deputy) asked to be sentenced to imprisonment for a term of at least nine years.

He considered that “the deputy’s version is not corroborated” and argued that during the trial no evidence was presented of the illegal conduct of Manuel Pinho, even in relation to payments received abroad from a company of the Espirito Santo group in an offshore entity of which he was a beneficiary. while in government, despite recognizing this fact as a “more fragile” issue.

“This monthly payment of 15 thousand euros is not what should have happened. It didn’t make sense (to be like that). Why did this continue? I have no explanation for this, I have an explanation for the reason for receiving It, which is the result of an assumed obligation under the contract. The receipts were payable and had an explanation, despite the difficulty of understanding the contents of these payments,” he said.

Ricardo Sa Fernandez also noted that money laundering, like previous crimes, is associated with corruption, which, in his opinion, has come to naught given the rejection of the corrupt practices of Manuel Piño.

Regarding the crime of tax fraud, he accepted that “there is no doubt that the crime occurred because there was a replacement return” out of time for 2011, but said it should not be punished because the situation had been resolved. .

Manuel Pinho, under house arrest since December 2021, is on trial in the EDP case of passive corruption for an unlawful act, passive corruption, money laundering and tax fraud.

His wife Alexandra Pinho is responsible for money laundering and tax fraud (materially co-authored with her husband), and former BES President Ricardo Salgado is responsible for active corruption for illegal acts, active corruption and money laundering. .