The Lisbon Court of Appeal today upheld a 10-year prison sentence for Manuel Pinho, who served as Minister of Economy from 2005 to 2009. Pinho was convicted of allegedly receiving around 4.9 million euros, including a monthly payment of 15,000 euros during his time in government, through offshore accounts to favor the interests of Banco Espírito Santo (BES) and Grupo Espírito Santo (GES) over public interest.
“We are not addressing whether the matter involved bribery, as proven, or contractual compliance, as the defendant alleges and maintains. […] We are only discussing the fact that the defendant never recused himself or considered himself impeded […] And in that regard, we must state that this alone is not normal,” the appellate judges noted in their ruling, while reviewing the handling of suspicious files, including those concerning the Comporta and Pinheirinho estates in the Setúbal district.
In this context, the judges found the justification provided by Manuel Pinho unusual, which was purportedly detailed in a written agreement from 2004, claiming that the amounts received were related to his career transition and departure from BES, where he held a senior position before joining the first government of José Sócrates in 2005.
The court concluded that the sums involved—”received by the defendant as ordered and labeled RS, signifying Ricardo Salgado,” paid through “complex concealment operations” unnoticed by third parties—were “counterparts of a corrupt pact” where former banker and BES/GES interests were “benefited by the actions” of Manuel Pinho, aged 70.
In this scenario, the apparent written agreement’s purpose was to suggest an unusual situation if suspicions arose about the defendants’ behavior, making “a corrupt pact reduced to writing or widely publicized” seem far-fetched.
“As of March 10, 2004, the defendant was already engaged in collaborative political activities, which aligns with his functional duties at BES—non-executive director—being vague and insignificant to the point where the defendant himself described them as a ‘business card’,” the appellate judges noted, asserting that the reference to future public roles in a clause “does not constitute a guess” but rather “a foresight.”
In today’s ruling, which Lusa accessed, Ricardo Salgado, 80 and suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, received a confirmed sentence of six years and three months in prison, while Manuel Pinho’s wife, Alexandra Pinho, 64, received a four-year and eight-month suspended sentence.
The case involves charges of corruption, money laundering, and tax fraud.
The former minister, who has been under house arrest since December 2021, and his defense have announced plans to appeal to the Supreme Court and international bodies.
The initial ruling was issued by Lisbon’s Central Criminal Court in June 2024.
Even though the actions under scrutiny in this case did not involve EDP, the investigation stemmed from the probe into the so-called excessive rents of the electricity company, with charges filed in October 2024 by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, including against the former government official.
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