Lisbon, Sept. 17, 2026 (Lusa) - One of José Sócrates' finance ministers said on Thursday that appointing Armando Vara as director of Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD) was his own decision, attributing the choice to himself rather than to the former prime minister, and presenting a perspective that differs from that of his predecessor and the Public Prosecutor's Office.
«The choice was mine, and I communicated it» [to the prime minister], Fernando Teixeira dos Santos said at the trial of the ‘Operação Marquês' case in Lisbon. Teixeira dos Santos succeeded Luís Campos e Cunha as finance minister in July 2005 and served in José Sócrates' government from March 2005 to June 2011.
In the 2017 indictment, the Public Prosecutor's Office (MP) alleges that José Sócrates and Armando Vara, appointed to the CGD board in late 2005, accepted a total of €2 million in bribes from two investors in the Algarve resort of Vale do Lobo to benefit the development.
On 1 November 2025, Luís Campos e Cunha, who served as minister between March and July 2005, stated whilst testifying at the trial that José Sócrates had insisted «from the outset» that Armando Vara be appointed to the board of the state-owned bank, specifying that the intention was for Vara to be vice-chairman and Carlos Santos Ferreira to be chair.
When asked today by the Public Prosecutor's Office whether it was a «huge coincidence» that he had recalled the same person his predecessor had identified as recommended by José Sócrates, Fernando Teixeira dos Santos said he was uncertain.
According to the former minister, the decision to change CGD's board of directors aimed to strengthen the bank, which was publicly and internally «very weakened», and the choice of Armando Vara rested on his competence.
«For me, what mattered was having someone who was from Caixa, who was well regarded for the work he was doing [in a senior position at the state-owned bank],» he said.
José Sócrates, aged 69 and at the time Secretary-General of the PS, faces charges including three counts of corruption for allegedly having received money to benefit the Lena Group, the Espírito Santo Group (GES) and Vale do Lobo.
Armando Vara, 72, is another of the 21 defendants in the case, who have generally denied committing the 117 economic and financial offences they are charged with.
The trial has been taking place since 3 July 2025 at the Central Criminal Court in Lisbon, and the alleged offences are said to have been committed between 2005 and 2014.
IB/ADB // ADB.
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