Ricardo Salgado’s cousin, José Manuel Espírito Santo, is losing his house as the trick of registering the property in the name of a company has not fooled the judges for one moment.
The swish Rua da Saudade property in Cascais, on paper at least is owned by ‘Casa da Saudade - Gestão de Bens Móveis e Imóveis SA.’ The former BES director and his wife were directors of this company and lived in the property as if it was their own to enjoy.
When things went pear-shaped at BES, with the entire Espírito Santo group crumbling to dust, José Manuel’s children became directors of the Casa da Saudade company in an attempt to shield this family home from creditors.
The Lisbon Court of Appeal considered José Manuel Espírito Santo, accused in BES case, to be the real owner of the property and that the Public Prosecutor's Office was justified in seizing the property.
The appeal judges rejected the request from José Manuel Espírito Santo that a company of which he was not a director was the owner of the house, hence 'it was not linked to him in any way,' despite the fact he lived there.
In the appeal, the company directors filed an opposition to the seizure of the house and mounted an appeal against the State represented by the Central Department of Investigation and Criminal Action (DCIAP).
The company claimed that it is not a defendant in the BES corruption case and that, consequently, Casa da Saudade could not be seized.
The judges pointed out that José Manuel Espírito Santo and his wife, joined the Board of Directors of Casa da Saudade SA on March 16, 1993, and resigned on October 31, 2014. These two resignations were just weeks after the Espírito Santo group went bust.
The board of directors of Casa da Saudade - Gestão de Bens Móveis e Imóveis SA was joined on November 12, 2014 by three children of José Manuel Espírito Santo, an attempt to remove the assets from the BES inquiry and the inevitable lawsuits that would result.
José Manuel Espírito Santo,
