In closing his final arguments at Lisbon’s Central Criminal Court, lawyer Ricardo Sá Fernandes resumed the previous day’s argumentation, continuing to deny the existence of acts of corruption by the former minister (2005-2009), and presented explanations for the accusations of money laundering and tax fraud, summing up: “I expect justice”.

"I am very calm when I say that Manuel Pinho was not at the service of BES. He was not a BES minister, it would be deeply unfair and historically wrong to say that”, stated the former government official’s attorney, for whom the Public Ministry (MP) requested a sentence of no less than nine years in prison.

He considered that the “MP’s version has no basis” and argued that no proof was presented in the trial of illicit behaviour on the part of Manuel Pinho, even in relation to payments received abroad from a company of the Espírito Santo Group in an offshore entity of which he was a beneficiary while he was in the Government, despite recognising this fact as a “more fragile” issue.

"That monthly payment of 15 thousand euros is not how it should have happened. It did not make sense (to be that way). Why was it maintained? I have no explanation for that, I have an explanation for the reason for the receipt, which is the result of a contractual obligation that was assumed. The receipts were due and had an explanation, despite the difficulty in understanding the maintenance of those payments”, he stated.

Ricardo Sá Fernandes also mentioned that money laundering has corruption as a prior crime, falling, in his opinion, by the wayside in the face of the rejection of the practice of corrupt acts by Manuel Pinho.

Regarding the crime of tax fraud, he admitted that “there is no doubt that the crime happened, because there was a late declaration of substitution” regarding the year 2011, but argued that it should not be punished, since the situation was regularised.

The morning was also filled with the arguments of the defence of Alexandra Pinho, Manuel Pinho’s wife, who is accused of the crimes of money laundering and fraud (in co-authorship with her husband). Lawyer Manuel Magalhães e Silva described the MP’s accusation as “a text in bad taste” and stressed his conviction in his client’s innocence: “I am very confident that Dr. Alexandra Pinho will be acquitted”.

For Magalhães e Silva, “there is no direct or indirect evidence” that the former government official’s wife had any knowledge of the alleged corrupt pact between Manuel Pinho and Ricardo Salgado, and therefore “cannot be held responsible for the crime of money laundering of the money resulting from corruption”.

In the final arguments, made on Monday, the MP had argued for the application of a four-year sentence, suspended in its execution, for Alexandra Pinho.

Manuel Pinho, under house arrest since December 2021, is being tried in the EDP case for passive corruption for illicit act, passive corruption, money laundering and tax fraud.

His wife, Alexandra Pinho, is answering for money laundering and tax fraud - in material co-authorship with her husband -, while the former president of BES, Ricardo Salgado, is answering for active corruption for illicit act, active corruption and money laundering.

[News updated at 12:45 pm]

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