Santa Casa demands payment of almost 61 million to former administrator
The Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa (SCML) and Santa Casa Global (SCG), created for the internationalization of social games, demand almost 61 million euros in patrimonial and non-patrimonial damages from former administrator Francisco Pessoa e Costa.
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País SCML
According to the response to the civil action filed by the former administrator, which Lusa had access to, SCML and SCG ensure that they are facing "a truly explosive situation" due to the project of internationalization of social games, ensuring that the "still unknown" contingencies of the operations and investments made may represent a "potential loss that is still incalculable".
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At the origin of this process is the dismissal of Francisco Pessoa e Costa as manager of SCG on 29 November 2023, against which the former administrator took legal action, considering that there is no just cause for his departure and that the decision to remove him has jeopardized his reputation and his mental health and that of his family, thus claiming compensation of approximately 300 thousand euros.
In response, SCG alleges property damage of 45,299,984 euros and moral damages of 250 thousand euros, while SCML has been harmed in 14,576,579 euros, claiming moral damages of 750 thousand euros. In total, the losses attributed to the former administrator - who will have acted "in harmony and with common purposes" with the former provider Edmundo Martinho and the former administrator of SCG Ricardo Gonçalves - amount to 60,876,563 euros.
The contestation of the two entities refutes any nullity in the deliberation that dismissed Francisco Pessoa e Costa, argues that the former administrator had no legitimacy to claim the annulment and also emphasizes that, even if there was legitimacy, the annulment action has already been filed outside the legal deadline. It also highlights that the request for compensation is also not in accordance with the law, for being generic, but, above all, reiterates the just cause for the dismissal.
"There was not a single business pursued by the author [Francisco Pessoa e Costa] that would bring benefits to society, to its subsidiaries or to the sole shareholder. Only losses", reads the document, which argues that the failure of financial operations, the "careless - if not even illicit" - behaviors and the chosen partners "'stained' the image and reputation" of Santa Casa in an unequivocal and irreparable way.
The document summarizes the internationalization project carried out since 2020 by SCG, recalling that its constitution was authorized by the guardianship as a single-member company by quotas, "in order to limit the legal and property liability of SCML in relation to the project". However, it attributes to the former administrator the inclusion of "abusive clauses" in the agreement for exercising the mandate of manager, such as a monthly remuneration of around six thousand euros and attendance fees of one thousand euros in the meetings of the management board.
Considering that the decisions of the former manager "seem to meet mere personal benefits", the institutions hold Francisco Pessoa e Costa responsible for the "network of companies created without any foundation", as well as for the choice of allegedly unsuitable partners, indicating a set of irregularities in SCG, SCG Brasil, SCG Brasil Participações, MCE, Santa Casa Capitalização or Ainima Holdings, among others.
Among the irregularities pointed out are the approval of regulations for travel subsidies and entertainment expenses, non-compliance with due diligence duties on third parties, making high-risk investments - contrary to what was defined by the guardianship -, bank transfers to entities without documents that explain the provision of services or the non-existence of minutes books of corporate bodies, etc.
They also argue that the former administrator led SCML to inject money into SCG, and that these capitals "had no guarantee of return" and that they went to "transfers and investments without any zeal, loyalty and care".
They also accuse Francisco Pessoa e Costa - who was heard last week in parliament about SCML's financial situation and the internationalization business - of having allegedly omitted relevant information to the entities, imputing to him "violation of the duty of due diligence due to obvious negligence", a "professional incapacity for the position" and also "blatant carelessness in relation to the company's financial sustainability".
Although they point to an action "in collusion with the other managers" (Edmundo Martinho and Ricardo Gonçalves) and the legal provision for a "joint and several liability (...) for the damages caused", the two institutions argue that it is "absolutely legitimate to attribute to one of the agents alone [in this case Francisco Pessoa e Costa] the totality of the losses" resulting from this "'financial adventure'".
The contestation concludes that "all this, now, evidences a concerted strategy between Edmundo Martinho, Ricardo Gonçalves and the Author, who, abusing the trust that was placed in them, with the intention of obtaining gains for themselves to the detriment of social interests and the sole shareholder [SCML], outlined a ruinous plan", noting that the former administrator used "526 years of history and work in favor of the community".
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