Manuel Pinho’s lawyer has written a book focusing on his client’s innocence…
Lisbon Appeal Court judges today have confirmed the 10-year prison sentence delivered to former economy minister Manuel Pinho last year, as well as the more than six-year sentence handed out to former banker Ricardo Salgado, a man already severely compromised by Alzheimer’s disease.
According to the ruling, the judges also confirmed the four-year, eight month suspended sentence for money laundering and tax fraud given to Mr Pinho’s wife Alexandra.
The decisions come after endless attempts by Manuel Pinho’s lawyer, Ricardo Sá Fernandes, to argue his client’s innocence. Indeed, the respected defender has even written a book on the abuse of power, which he feels has been at play since the outset.
Manuel Pinho has actually been deprived of his liberty since December 2021.
It is unclear what the next steps will be, but it has always been tacitly accepted that Mr Pinho will not see the inside of a prison cell. Neither should Ricardo Salgado, who is in no state to serve any kind of term in prison.
Lusa returns to the ‘issue’ of this case, that has been inching its way through the justice system for several years. It centres on the alleged receipt by Mr Pinho (Socialist minister of economy between 2005-2009) of ‘around €4.9 million, including a monthly payment of around €15,000 while he was part of the government, to favour the interests of Banco Espírito Santo (BES), of which Ricardo Salgado was president.
Pinho always maintained his innocence, but was convicted of passive corruption, money laundering and tax fraud nonetheless – as was Ricardo Salgado convicted of being his ‘corruptor’.
Confusingly, this case resulted from another (the EDP CMEC investigation) which has still not reached a courtroom, and only very recently saw formal accusations lodged. ND
Source material: LUSA
