Children of BES boss try to unblock frozen funds

The children of the second most important director at the failed bank Banco Espírito Santo which collapsed in 2014, are trying unblock funds belonging to their father, Amílcar Morais Pires who transferred €8.9 million in their name in a bid to try and stop the money being seized by the authorities.

Judge Carlos Alexandre ordered the assets frozen in March, 2019 as part of the main BES judicial case, a decision that is currently being contested at the Lisbon Court of Appeal.

According to information obtained by newspaper Publico, the seizure of the funds resulted from information obtained by the Tax Authority from the Swiss authorities when it was realised that the former financial administrator of BES and number two of ex-President Ricardo Salgado, had made a set of transfers from his accounts to current accounts, also in Switzerland, in the name of his two children. These were transfers between September 2014 and May 2015.

Carlos Alexandre knew that Morais Pires would try and dissipate the assets, which he subsequently did. Then, in June 2020, the Public Prosecutor’s Office made the transfers case separate and believing that they were dealing with a crime, the son and daughter were made legal defendants, but the case would later be shelved.

Now, after several legal actions, it was decided that the transfer should remain part of the main BES legal proceedings and the two children are seeking to claw back the funds.

Photo: Miguel Lopes, Lusa.