Paulo Alexandre Sousa has not yet taken office as the overseer of the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa (SCML), but there is already a controversy surrounding his name.

The manager, chosen to succeed Ana Jorge at Santa Casa, was fined 2,900 euros and banned from serving as president of the Central Bank of Mozambique in 2019, reports CNN Portugal.

News at the time, which was reported by the Sol newspaper and the Expresso weekly, involved infractions and conflicts of interest.

In response to Notícias ao Minuto, the Ministry of Labour maintains that this process has already been settled in court and recalls that "the person in question appealed this decision to the Bank of Mozambique, which did not lift the suspension".

"Dr. Paulo Alexandre de Sousa appealed through the courts and was cleared, with the case settled in court, in 2020. This decision by the Mozambican judiciary proves that the new overseer has the integrity, capacity and competence necessary to hold this position", the ministry clarified in a statement.

It should be recalled that the economist was chosen as the next overseer of the SCML, as announced today by the Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security, who justified the choice with his experience in management and in the social area.

According to a government statement, released after the minister announced the name of the new overseer in Parliament, Paulo Alexandre Sousa, 56, has a degree in Business Management from the Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão (ISEG), having worked in banking, namely as chairman of the executive committee of Banco Comercial e de Investimentos, S.A and at the Central Directorate of Real Estate Financing of Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD).

Internationally, between 2013 and 2019 he represented the interests of CGD in Mozambique, having also been Portugal's representative on the Economic Affairs Committee, within the framework of the European Mortgage Federation.

"He also has experience in the social area, having been vice-president of the Portuguese Red Cross, being part of the board of the Costa do Estoril branch for two terms. He returned to the board in the current term. He has experience in matters related to the real estate sector, having been responsible for the creation of the Social Rental Market", adds the government statement.

Still in the real estate sector, he was also in charge of managing an urban development fund, supervised by the Institute of Housing and Urban Rehabilitation and by CGD.

He also has experience in teaching in higher education, in the areas of Mathematics, Financial Marketing, Management and Real Estate.

The SCML administration was dismissed on April 29, with Minister Maria do Rosário Ramalho justifying the decision to remove Ana Jorge and her team due to "total inaction" in the face of the institution's financial situation and for not having a restructuring plan to reverse it, also accusing the dismissed board of having benefited itself with salary increases.

Ana Jorge took office on May 2, 2023, chosen by the previous socialist government of António Costa, and inherited an institution with serious financial difficulties, after years of pandemic and a process of internationalisation of social games, carried out by the administration of overseer Edmundo Martinho, which may have caused losses in the order of 50 million euros.

[News updated at 11:25 pm]

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