The businessman’s former bank manager Carlos Santos Silva confirmed this Tuesday in court that it ordered transfers to the sphere of Joseph Socrateshaving even reported the purchase of a house from the mother of the former prime minister.
In this Tuesday’s trial session of the case Operation MarquisCarlos Santos Silva’s former account manager does not Banco Espírito Santo (BES) testified that, at one point, was surprised by a transfer of “hundreds of thousands of euros” to a beneficiary I did not know, with “a very extensive description/justification”which indicated that it was the “sign of purchase and sale of a property”.
“I didn’t know the beneficiary of the transfer and I went to Google, entered the name [Maria Adelaide Monteiro] and I saw that it was the mother of engineer José Sócrates. And then I went to participate”, said Ana Vaz, adding that it also made her aware of the fact that the businessman did not previously communicate that the financial movement would take place.
In the prosecution of the Operation Marquês case, oPublic Ministry argues that money is at stake that would actually belong to José Sócrates and that the house business, located in Lisbon, was one of the ways found for the head of Government between 2005 and 2011 to have access to funds, allegedly originating from corruption.
In her testimony, Ana Vaz also reported that Carlos Santos Silva said he had a friend who wanted to buy a lot in Alentejo, with the businessman guaranteeing financing of 850 thousand euros “with the financial pledge of a term deposit of the same amount”, with authorization for debit in case the buyer is unable to pay the loan.
“At the time, [o nome da beneficiária] it didn’t tell me anything, but, once again, I went to Google and found out that Sofia Fava had been married to the engineer José Sócrates”, he stated.
In a testimony during which José Sócrates’ lawyer, Pedro Delille, threatened to leave the room Having been called to the court’s attention by a question he asked, the banker also said that he also reported to his management the fact that Carlos Santos Silva asked a bank employee to collect checks.
In this regard, Ana Vaz highlighted that, “from a certain point onwards”, she realized the existence of “withdrawals of around 10 thousand euros on a very recurring basis”having questioned the businessman about the justification for this happening and received “a vague answer, which [os montantes] They were for expenses.”
The former prime minister and Carlos Santos Silva, both 68 years old, are two of the 21 defendants in Operation Marquisto which the Public Ministry imputes, in total, 117 economic-financial crimes.
The trial has been ongoing since July 3rd at the Central Criminal Court of Lisbon and has sessions scheduled until at least December 18, 2025.
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