Defense argues BESA defendants should not stand trial

The defense of the defendants in the BESA case this Monday challenged the thesis of the Office of the Public Prosecutor (MP) and considered that the court should not hold them accountable for crimes related to breach of trust, money laundering and fraud.

After the deputy said in the morning that former Banco Espírito Santo Angola (BESA) president Álvaro Sobrinho, former BES president Ricardo Salgado and former administrators Morais Pires, Rui Silveira and Helder Batalha should be tried “exactly under the conditions stipulated by the charges,” the defense of the former An Angolan banker had to press charges, refuting in just five minutes the competence of the Portuguese courts to convict their client.

“All the allegedly destructive actions took place in Angola. Alvaro Sobrinho was always in Angola. The facts in Angola and Switzerland have already been presented to him and they have been archived,” said lawyer Miguel Esperanza Martins.

A spokesman for the former BESA president, who is accused of 18 offenses of aggravated breach of trust (five of which were co-offenses) and five of money laundering, added that “Álvaro Sobrinho understands that Portuguese laws do not apply and that the courts are unaware Portuguese”.

Ricardo Salgado’s defense recalled the BES/GES case, the main case in the collapse of the Espirito Santo group, to invoke the legal principle that a defendant cannot be tried twice for the same crime.

He argued that the court should accept that the subject matter of the proceedings had already been analyzed and pointed out a violation of the principle of specialization due to the use of evidence sent by the Swiss authorities in the BES/GES case without the permission of BESA. process.

Lawyer Adriano Squilacce also reiterated the need for a neurological examination of his client, who in this case is charged with five offenses of aggravated breach of trust and one count of qualified fraud (all co-authors).

Confronted with the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease (already noted in an examination conducted in another case), he stated that “the only reason why the defendant’s Alzheimer’s disease continues to be ignored is solely due to the name of this defendant, Ricardo Salgado.” , saying a ruling without charges was still awaited.

The agent of Morais Pires, accused of breach of trust and fraud, began by pointing out to the deputy the apparent “irreconcilable contradiction” since he understood that the same money could be the object of corruption in one process and constitute a crime of abuse in another reliably .

“Morais Pires was not the BESA administrator and no money was lent to him. And he only took over the role of BESA in 2012… If there is someone responsible, it is certainly not Morais Pires, who fought to be there as the sovereign guarantee of Angola and held many meetings,” said lawyer Raul Soares da Veiga.

He also added that if the court checks the details of the charges, “it will see that he is right and will issue a decision not to press charges.”

Lawyer Rui Patricio, representing former administrator Helder Batalha, accused of breach of trust, defends the incompetence of the Portuguese courts, understanding that “there is no connection with the territory of Portugal” or the acts committed by his client that constitute the crime. he was charged.

“The Portuguese courts are incompetent. And what is stated in the indictment is not a crime of breach of trust against Helder Batalha… “it’s simple” [tão simples como isso, em inglês]. These were amounts received by Helder Batalha to which he was entitled under the GES. As for my client, it is very short and does not allow the pronunciation to be reproduced,” he said.

Finally, the defense of Ruy Silveira, the only defendant who did not apply for an investigation and accused of fraud, criticized the prosecution, considering it “deeply unfair” towards their client.

Lawyer Luis Pires de Lima said that the deputy’s thesis was based on “speculations and conclusions” that were not supported by facts, therefore, in his opinion, Rui Silveira should not have been accused.

Judge Gabriela Assuncao scheduled the announcement of the order for July 15 at 15.00 at the Central Criminal Court.

The BESA indictment was announced in July 2022 and relates to BES’s provision of BESA funding in the form of interbank money market (MMI) credit lines and bank overdrafts.

As a result of this criminal activity, on July 31, 2014, BES was exposed to BESA worth approximately €4.8 billion.

According to the deputy’s indictment, the benefits from the crimes charged in this investigation amount to the global amounts of 5,048,178,856.09 euros and 210,263,978.84 US dollars.