On July 8, the local civil court of Cascais declared Ricardo Salgado, 81, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, to be under guardianship, limiting his rights and appointing his wife as his guardian, effective from January 1, 2019.
In a request filed Friday at the Lisbon Central Criminal Court, where the “Operation Marquês” trial is being conducted, the defense of the former president of Banco Espírito Santo (BES) argued that this is a “legally relevant new fact.” This, they claim, allows judges to once again consider dismissing the case against Ricardo Salgado or, “at the very least (alternatively), to suspend it while the defendant’s clinical condition persists.”
“The potential continuation of this criminal case against a defendant whom the judicial system itself (through specific procedures) has proven cannot even state his name or location would be a degrading, undignified, and internationally shameful judicial exercise for the Portuguese state,” stated lawyers Francisco Proença de Carvalho and Adriano Squilacce in the document accessed by Lusa today.
The trial of the “Operation Marquês” case began on July 3 and resumes on Tuesday, after a break during the judicial holidays.
Ricardo Salgado is one of the 21 defendants and faces charges of eight counts of money laundering and three of active corruption, including allegations involving former Prime Minister José Sócrates (2005-2011) as the alleged recipient of bribes.
According to the July 8 ruling declaring the guardianship of the former BES president, he is “entirely dependent on basic or instrumental activities of daily living, as well as managing his assets and personal affairs, thus requiring third-party assistance.”
In addition to the “Operation Marquês,” the former banker is being tried in three cases related to the Espírito Santo Group and has been sentenced to effective prison time in two other cases concerning the alleged corruption of former minister Manuel Pinho and the presumed embezzlement of 10.7 million euros from the Espírito Santo Group.
All the suspected acts, which the former banker previously denied, occurred before 2019.
