“The prosecutor’s office intends to prove that Manuel Pinho entered into an agreement with Ricardo Salgado to remain in the service of GES and, as Minister of Economy, to make decisions based on BES and the bank’s clients. Pinho has exchanged this position,” said prosecutor Rui Batista at the start of the first trial in the EDP case on Tuesday. For the magistrate, there is no doubt that De Pinho was corrupted by the former president of BES. “The partners were a payment of 15 thousand euros per month, a payment of 500 thousand euros and a set of other benefits”
In court is the former Minister of Economy, who is on trial for crimes of passive corruption, money laundering and tax fraud. As does his wife, also accused.
At the same meeting, Pinho’s lawyer Ricardo Sa Fernandez already denied the fact of giving a bribe. “We propose to prove in court that no benefits were attributed to Manuel Pinho as minister,” the lawyer said, recalling that Pinho is the first member of the government to be tried for corruption.
José Sócrates has been charged with corruption in the Márquez case but has not yet been brought to trial.