Portugal's Supervisory Court has reduced the fine imposed on the former BES boss, Ricardo Salgado by €300,000 to €3.7 million – money the banker says he does not have.
Salgado and BES colleague, Amílcar Morais Pires, both had been fined for running a scheme to sell worthless securities to BES customers at the time when the bank was spiralling out of control into insolvency in 2014.
The Supervisory Court reduced Salgado’s fine and dropped the €600,000 fine imposed on Pires to €350,000.
The original lawsuit was filed by Banco de Portugal in August 2016 accusing the pair of mismanagement - in particular the sale of securities to customers whom the bank duped into transferring safely deposited money into securities in other Espírito Santo companies which soon proved to be valueless.
Both bankers appealed their original sentences but the fines, although reduced, now must be paid.
The fines that Ricardo Salgado must pay are for the failure to implement adequate information and communication systems (€400,000), non-implementation of a sound, effective and consistent risk management system with regard to the activity of placing products issued by third parties (€400,000 ), fraudulent acts of ruinous management to the detriment of depositors, investors and other creditors (€1.9 million), false information to the Bank of Portugal (€1 million) and breach of conflict of interest rules (€700,000).
Salgado also is banned from being a director in any financial institution for eight years; Amílcar Pires for one.
