Lisbon, Oct. 21, 2025 (Lusa) - In 2014, former prime minister José Sócrates took out three loans simultaneously at Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD) to cover expenses that he acknowledged were "absolutely exaggerated", his account manager testified on Tuesday.
At the Operation Marquês trial in Lisbon, Dina Alexandre explained, in a testimony in which several telephone taps were reproduced to refresh the banker's memory, that José Sócrates first asked for a total loan of €75,000 at the beginning of 2014 to cover his "installation costs" to study in Paris and those of his son, who was then living in the French capital with his mother, his ex-wife.
In August, when the funding had fallen to €52,000, the former prime minister (2005-2011) obtained a new loan of €40,000 and, at the end of October, a third of €30,000, intended to partially pay off around €40,000 he owed in Personal Income Tax (IRS).
In a conversation with Dina Alexandre in 2014, heard in court today, regarding this last loan, José Sócrates was surprised to be told by the account manager that he had fixed expenses of around €15,000, reacting that "earning so much money", he had "absolutely exaggerated expenses".
At the time, the former Socialist governor earned at least €12,500 from his work with pharmaceutical companies. His fixed expenses included the monthly amortisation of more than €5,500 of loans taken out, a monthly payment of another €5,000 to his ex-wife, and the leasing of a Mercedes car.
"I often had to systematise the expenses that [José Sócrates] had, so that he would understand that it didn't go from there," Dina Alexandre stressed today, adding that it was over the phone that the former prime minister would ask about the movements of his bank account, into which his salary was deposited.
The banker also emphasised that the former prime minister was considered a "credible client" and that the loans, which were approved by the commercial directorate according to his "income pattern," were not given special treatment.
The loans were all repaid later, after José Sócrates had been remanded in custody in November 2014, using the money from the sale of the ex-governor's house in Lisbon. Dina Alexandre acknowledged today, when asked by the defence, that if he had continued to receive his salary, the loan would have been repaid within the stipulated two-year period, as the instalments would have been deducted automatically from his salary.
José Sócrates, 67, has been indicted on 22 counts, including three of corruption, for allegedly receiving money to benefit the Lena group, the Espírito Santo Group (GES), and the Algarve resort of Vale do Lobo.
There are 21 defendants in the case, who have generally denied committing the 117 economic and financial crimes they are accused of.
The trial has been taking place since 3 July at Lisbon's Central Criminal Court.
IB/ADB // ADB.
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