The first session of the trial is set to begin at 9:30 AM at the Central Criminal Court of Lisbon, located in the Justice Campus. Presiding over the panel of judges is Susana Seca, who will oversee the trial of former Prime Minister José Sócrates and 20 other defendants, including individuals and companies, accused of 117 crimes.
Following preliminary decisions, reviews by the Lisbon Court of Appeal, and the dissolution of certain entities charged by the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP), as well as statute limitations, seven defendants have been removed from the initial list of 28.
The main defendant, José Sócrates, originally faced charges for 31 crimes but now stands accused of 22, including three charges of passive corruption while holding a political office, 13 of money laundering, and six of qualified tax fraud.
Businessman Carlos Santos Silva, a close associate of the former Prime Minister, faces the most charges, now reduced to 23 from the original 33. These include a charge of passive corruption while holding a political office, one of active corruption, 14 of money laundering, and seven of qualified tax fraud.
The list of defendants also includes former banker of the defunct Banco Espírito Santo, Ricardo Salgado, who faces charges for three counts of active corruption, one involving a political office holder, and eight of money laundering.
Ricardo Salgado has already faced trial in a related proceeding from the Operation Marquês investigation and was sentenced to eight years in prison for breach of trust, a sentence conditionally influenced by his diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.
Another defendant previously convicted in proceedings stemming from the main case is Armando Vara, former minister under António Guterres and former administrator of Caixa Geral de Depósitos. He now faces charges of one count of passive corruption while holding a political office and one of money laundering.
Other defendants appearing before the panel led by Susana Seca include former Portugal Telecom administrators Zeinal Bava and Henrique Granadeiro; Rui Horta e Costa, former administrator of the Algarve luxury development Vale de Lobo; Luso-Angolan businessman Helder Bataglia; Sócrates’ cousin, José Pinto de Sousa; former wife of the ex-Prime Minister, Sofia Fava; and former driver of the former government official, João Perna.
José Sócrates was arrested on November 21, 2014, at Lisbon airport upon his return from Paris. The unprecedented situation in Portugal was based on suspicions of corruption, tax fraud, and money laundering, confirmed by the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic on the same day, in a statement announcing the Marquês Operation inquiry by the Central Department of Investigation and Penal Action (DCIAP), then led by current Attorney General Amadeu Guerra.
After two days of interrogation by then-judge Carlos Alexandre, José Sócrates was remanded in preventive custody, which he served in Évora prison for nine months, followed by a month of house arrest.
Years passed from the public announcement of the inquiry to the indictment by the Public Prosecutor’s Office; it was not until October 11, 2017, after several delays, that the indictment involving 28 defendants and 189 crimes became known.
The provisional decision handed down in April 2021 marked a pivotal moment in the case, with judge Ivo Rosa effectively dismissing much of the MP’s charges, particularly the most serious ones involving corruption.
The televised announcement of the provisional decision left prosecutor Rosário Teixeira, who led the inquiry, visibly stunned in full view of the nation.
A decision by the Lisbon Court of Appeal in January 2024 ultimately reinstated almost the entirety of the original indictment by the Public Prosecutor’s Office. More than a decade of investigation and procedural motions, including repeated appeals by the former Prime Minister, culminates today in the trial.
The next question is whether this megatrial will expand further. It is up to Judge Susana Seca to decide if she will merge the smaller case, which resulted from Ivo Rosa’s provisional decision last month, into the main trial. This could lead to Sócrates and Santos Silva being tried concurrently for money laundering charges in both cases.
