Caixa Geral, BCP and Novo Banco jointly have filed in the Judicial Court, a ‘summary execution’ against Joe Berardo, of more than €962 million.
962,162,180.21 is the precise figure the banks want to be repaid from the businessman and art collector.
Lawsuit number 8489/19.8T8LSB was filed on Saturday at the Judicial Court for Lisbon Region, presenting Berardo with a monumental problem.
The move from the big three banks comes after the terms of January’s final agreement were rejected.
The banks cited Joe Manuel Rodrigues Berardo and three associated companies, the José Berardo Foundation, Metalgest - Sociedade de Gestão, Sgps, SA and Moagens Associadas, SA
The January proposal included a considerable level of debt forgiveness and mainly was focused on the Berardo Foundation and its collection of art - the value of which is variable.
At the end of 2017, the foundation had a financial black hole of €517 million, as the Berardo Collection of 861 works of art was evaluated independently and was said to be worth only €316 million.
Joe Berardo rejected the generous January deal, so the three banks have chosen to move forward with the lawsuit, a strategy former CGD fiscal council chairman Eduardo Paz Ferreira quoted as a "kamikaze operation."
The legal strategy is to prove that Berardo is the beneficiary of the associated companies.
CGD's Risk Management Department discovered that Berardo owns but one garage in Funchal, which is not worth €962 million.
