“For the trial, I designate the next day, October 15, 2024, at 09:30 AM, in this Central Criminal Court of Lisbon, room on the 3rd floor, with continuation at 2:00 PM on that day,” reads the order accessed by Lusa today, which maintains the planned date but also safeguards a possible postponement by already scheduling the date of October 16 and subsequent days.
The magistrate also scheduled a trial preparation meeting for September 25 at 2:30 PM, to settle “organizational and logistical” aspects, at the same location as the first session.
The trial of the Espírito Santo Universe criminal case will begin more than a decade after the collapse of the Espírito Santo Group (GES) in August 2014. The main defendant is former BES president Ricardo Salgado, who was accused of 65 crimes, including criminal association, active corruption, document forgery, qualified fraud, and money laundering.
Considered one of the largest cases in Portuguese justice history, this case combines 242 inquiries in the main process, which were gradually appended, and complaints from more than 300 individuals and entities, both residents in Portugal and abroad.
According to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the collapse of GES may have caused losses exceeding 11.8 billion euros.
