The judge in the BES/GES case accepts appeals from aggrieved parties without suspending the decision

The judge in the BES/GES case accepted 96 appeals, bringing together thousands of aggrieved parties, against the division of Banco Espirito Santo’s (BES) compensation claims to civil courts, but without a suspensive effect that could delay the trial.

According to the court ruling put forward by Observador and to which Lusa also had access, Judge Helena Susano understood that “unlike some appellants, the present appeal does not have suspensive effect.”

However, the judge of the Central Criminal Court of Lisbon acknowledged in his ruling that “this understanding is not binding on the Supreme Court”, so the Lisbon court, where these resources are directed, can still grant a suspensive effect and thus impose a date at stake the start of the trial.

The trial in the BES/GES case, also known as Universo Espirito Santo, is scheduled to begin on June 18.

The accepted appeals challenge a January decision ruling out compensation claims from criminal proceedings in civil courts.

The process included 1,306 requests for civil compensation (covering 2,475 injured parties), which were divided by the judge, arguing that it would “intolerably prolong” the trial.

The criminal trial of Universo Espírito Santo will begin almost ten years after the collapse of the Espirito Santo Group (GES), in August 2014, and its main accused is the former president of BES Ricardo Salgado, accused of 65 crimes, including criminal associations, active corruption, document forgery, skilled fraud and money laundering.

Considered one of the largest cases in the history of Portuguese justice, the case brings together 242 investigations into the main trial, which were consolidated, and complaints from more than 300 people, natural and legal, living in Portugal and abroad.

According to the deputy, the collapse of the hydroelectric power station will cause damage of more than 11.8 billion euros.