Lisbon, Nov. 11, 2025 (Lusa) - The corruption offences charged against former prime minister José Sócrates and three other defendants for the financing of Vale do Lobo by Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD) could lapse in the first half of 2026, the court said on Tuesday.
In today's order suspending the Operation Marquês trial until at least 4 December so that José Sócrates can appoint a new lawyer, the president of the panel of judges, Susana Seca, warned that there is a "risk of crimes being statute-barred in the near future", without specifying which ones.
When questioned by Lusa, the court clarified, via the Superior Council of the Judiciary, that "the crimes whose statute of limitations could run out during the first half of 2026 are those of active and passive corruption associated" with the chapter of the indictment on the Vale do Lobo group and the financing granted by CGD.
According to the order issued by the Public Prosecutor's Office and the judgement of the Lisbon Court of Appeal that confirmed the trial, there are four defendants charged with this crime in this case: José Sócrates and the former director of the public bank Armando Vara, for passive corruption of a political office holder, and two former directors of the luxury development, Rui Horta e Costa and José Diogo Gaspar Ferreira, for active corruption of a political office holder.
The Public Prosecutor's Office believes that the former prime minister (2005-2011) and Armando Vara were paid a €2 million bribe by Rui Horta e Costa and Diogo Gaspar Ferreira to benefit the Algarve resort from 2006 onwards.
The accusation is based on the assumption that the former CGD director was appointed to the CGD board at the end of 2005 on the recommendation of José Sócrates.
The credit granted to Vale do Lobo totalled more than €200 million and was later found to be ruinous.
The ex-governor and the two former directors of Vale do Lobo denied the accusation during the trial, while Armando Vara remained silent for the time being.
In total, José Sócrates, 68, is charged with 22 offences: three of corruption, 13 of money laundering and six of qualified tax fraud.
The remaining two corruption offences, apart from Vale do Lobo, relate to alleged benefits in exchange for money to the Espírito Santo Group (GES) and the Lena Group.
Armando Vara, 71, Rui Horta e Costa, 65, and José Diogo Gaspar Ferreira, 64, have each been indicted on one count of corruption and another of money laundering.
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 underway since 3 July at Lisbon's Central Criminal Court and was adjourned today until at least 4 December 2025, when more than 100 witnesses remain to be heard.
IB/ADB // ADB.
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