Holders of commercial paper in Espiríto Santo Property have started to receive some of their funds as prosecutors have unblocked €7.3 million for distribution.
Those BES customers unwittingly holding commercial paper in the property company, rather than having their money safely on deposit as many had thought, are to receive a first tranche of 20% of the debt.
Creditors to Espart, formerly Espiríto Santo Property, already have received the funds with the holders of commercial paper at the front of the queue getting a €5 million share-out.
Espart is not one of the big Espírito Santo debtors as its commercial loan notes amount to just €24.9 million. The company’s total debts are around €60 million owed to 374 people and lenders including BCP and BCI banks, and the government.
The company led by Caetano Beirão da Veiga had a Special Recovery Process (PER) approved in early June this year and wanted to start paying off its loans right away.
The creditors' meeting in Coimbra cost each delegate a rather insulting €2 a head to hear the proposals for the company's future under a PER, which were accepted.
The company’s accounts took a while to unfreeze but recipients are satisfied that the reimbursement now has started.
The property company pledged to the court that approved the PER that it would pay off the entire debt in five years in five equal installments, this being the first.
The authorities were quick off the mark when BES collapsed and seized the property company’s assets and bank accounts to "prevent any dissipation of assets that jeopardise, if convicted, the payment of any amounts associated with the practice of crime, particularly for damages or loss to the State from criminal activity," according to the Attorney General's Office at the time.
