The ‘instruction phase’ of the complex and far-reaching Operation Marquês will begin in January 2019.
This phase is a form of pre-trial and the judge will have to assess whether the evidence against the defendants is sufficient to put them on trial.
Ivo Rosa has been selected as the judge in this phase which has as a star defendant the former Prime Minister, José Sócrates.
The Operation Marquês investigation culminated in the indictment of a 28 defendants - 19 people and nine companies - accusing them of almost two hundred crimes.
José Sócrates, who was held in custody for 10 months, later released under house arrest, is charged with three counts of political corruption, 16 of money laundering, nine counts of falsifying documents and three counts of qualified tax fraud.
The indictment alleges that Sócrates received approximately €34 million between 2006 and 2015, in exchange for favours in the financial interests of Ricardo Salgado, the former head of the Espírito Santo Group and major shareholder in Portugal Telecom.
Sócrates also is accused of guaranteeing the granting of a Caixa General of Depósitos loan in favour of the Vale do Lobo development in the Algarve, and favoring the Lena Group businesses, run by a childhood friend.
The predicted pace of this trial is not impressive, with only three sessions per month booked as from January 2019, meaning this stage alone is expected to drag on for several years as the defendants have called 44 witnesses.
