Judge removed in BES case

Ivo Rosa, the judge served with deciding the outcome of one of the longest and costliest legal cases in Portuguese history – the case of Banco Espírito Santo (BES) and its ex-board chairman, Ricardo Salgado – has been removed.

The Higher Council for the Judiciary (Conselho Superior da Magistratura (CSM) removed him from the case ‘BES/GES Universo’ and has passed it to an auxiliary judge with just four years of experience, Pedro dos Santos Correia.
However, all the investigative measures already taken by Ivo Rosa will still be used in the case. The judge will not take up a position as a judge at the Court of Appeal since he has a disciplinary case pending against him for having allegedly “violated the Statute of Judicial Magistrates” over “infractions regarding his duty to obey the Constitution and the Law”, and “illegitimate interference in the jurisdictional activity of another magistrate”.
The BES/GES case has 30 legal suspects (23 people and seven companies) involving a total of 361 crimes, in a case that involves 242 inquiries, and complaints from more than 300 people and/or collective entities/companies resident or registered in Portugal and overseas.
According to the Public Ministry whose accusation has around 4,000 pages, the fall of the Group Espírito Santo (GES) in 2014 caused losses of around €11.8Bn.
The central figure of the investigation is ex-chairman of the GES, Ricardo Salgado stands accused of concealing information on the increase in capital” that the bank made in 2014, just weeks before it collapsed and which resulted in thousands of customers losing their life savings.
Other charges include ‘market manipulation’ and ‘qualified fraud’, ‘abuse of confidence’ and ‘aggravated money laundering’.