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New book logs Sócrates' unerring desire for cash

euromillions2A book released today covering the events leading up to José Sócrates’ arrest in 2014 reveals that the former prime minister received large sums of cash several times a month and was continuously hitting his credit card limit when living a life of luxury in Paris.

Deliveries of money were made to Sócrates, arranged by his friend Carlos Santos Silva, three times a month on average to support his spending while studying.

The book, ‘Cercado’(Surrounded), by Fernando Esteves exposes an extraordinary hunger for cash payments and describes 40 deliveries of money made in one year, quoting from an statement submitted by judge Carlos Alexandre to justify Sócrates’ arrest in November 2014.

The book reveals also that Carlos Santos Silva admitted to prosecutors that he had given €550,000 in cash to his friend with some deliveries just a few days apart.

One example given is the delivery of €10,000 in bank notes made on 2 April 2014. Two days later Socrates received another €10,000.

"In phone calls requesting the delivery of money, the former prime minister did not ask – he demanded. This is why the prosecution team concluded that the money belonged to him and why he was arrested on suspicion of corruption, tax fraud and money laundering."

‘Cercado’ describes José Sócrates’ political life over the past decade and is based on documents and on interviews with many of his employees but the interesting parts relate to his life in Paris and his demands for more and more cash to support his millionaire lifestyle, while describing himself as a humble student.

Deliveries of money between the two main defendants in Operation Marquis, was tracked for over a year by prosecutors who recorded an average of three deliveries a month.

Although the press already has reported many of these cash transactions, this is the first time that a full list has been published in detail and it will surprise many ordinary Portuguese taxpayers who struggle to earn €10,000 after tax in a year.

The demands for "books" and "photocopies" as the money often was referred to, "paid for almost everything: clothing, wages, income, condominiums, travel."

Surveillance of Sócrates’ movements began in the summer of 2013, just weeks after the Central Department of Investigation and Penal Action (DCIAP) opened Operation Marquis.

The book describes events in September 27, 2013 when Carlos Santos Silva handed €10,000 to Sócrates one afternoon and, after another phone call in which Sócrates told his friend that he "needed to bring something" because he had hit the credit card limit and Sofia Fava, his ex-wife and mother of his children, would be visiting him in Paris and they would need some money. Just seven days before, Sócrates has received €10,000, and four days before that another €5,000.

The book described two deliveries of cash made by André Figueiredo, a former chief of staff in the socialist party with close ties with the former socialist leader.

The first such occasion was on October 4, 2013, the day after Sócrates had met Carlos Santos Silva who handed over an amount of between €10,000 and €50,000.

Sócrates lawyer said that, "It is not surprising that both men wanted to maintain reasonable discretion given the social status of the co-defendant José Sócrates who naturally wanted to avoid speculation in the media that the friend helped him to maintain a certain lifestyle."

Much of the media has speculated that these payments were from backhanders and illicit payments accumulated by the then Prime Minister and held by his friend for later distribution on demand. This will be the case for the prosecution.

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Comments  

-2 #3 Karel 2015-05-15 10:20
:-x I am really worried about the way this case is going: is this new book "the resumé" that will be used by the prosecuter in court ? How is it possible that somebody seems to be "judged and punished" by the public opinion (represented by the writer of this book) before he was brought to the Court ? In "normal democratic countries such a thing would never happen as the Courts would explain such a way of working as "putting unsaine pressure on the Judges and the Court" and as such that would quasi automatically lead to a non-judgement.
Other possibility is that such kind of "accusations" should be brought to the Luxemburg Court and there nine times out of ten our "arguido" will be acquitted based on the same argument we made.
+7 #2 Dierdre 2015-05-15 08:24
It seems odd why he would need so much 'cash' to get by on. And that Socrates never twigged that constantly flashing the cash, rather than using his plastic, would not arouse suspicion.

Can we assume that, in the swirling, whirling world of Portuguese corruption and 'white gloves' that Socrates himself was also 'indebted' to others for helping get him to the heights that he did ?

Maybe old Socialists politicians - Socrates mentors - who, like old footballers, never had the chance to get their snouts into serious money. As Portugal, in their pre-EU day, didn't have any ?

So look out for the elderly Portuguese politicians champing at the bit to get Socrates out of prison and so the cash flowing again ?
+4 #1 Peter Booker 2015-05-15 08:16
Yet again, "this will be the case for the prosecution." But when? If we know so much, why is it taking them so long to charge him?

What is his defence? Where did all this money come from?

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