Inquiries into the finances of Ricardo Salgado and the former head of Portugal Telecom, Henrique Granadeiro, have resulted in the seizure of Herdade do Vale do Rico Homem, owned by a company controlled by Granadeiro.
The decision to seize the wine estate was made following the interrogations of Ricardo Salgado and Henrique Granadeiro as part of Operation Marquês when it was confirmed that Espírito Santo Enterprises (the slush fund operating for Grupo Espírito Santo) had acquired part of the company that owned the estate.
Ricardo Salgado transferred €25.7 million between 2007 and 2012 from ES Enterprises into a bank account held by Grenadeiro in Switzerland as a ‘thank you’ for Grenadeiro’s support to Grupo Espírito Santo and to purchase a 30% share in the company that controlled Herdade do Vale do Rico Homem.
Ricardo Salgado’s responses under questioning in January later were confirmed by Granadeiro, who is now a suspect in the wide-ranging inquiry in which the Former Prime Minister, José Sócrates, is under suspicion of crimes of corruption, money laundering and tax evasion.
With the seizure of the 800 hectare Herdade do Vale do Rico Homem, located in the Évora district, the Public Prosecutor's Office seeks to safeguard the future payment of any amount that Salgado and Granadeiro might end up having to pay.
Henrique Granadeiro has already transferred €6 million to Portugal that he had received from ES Enterprises but the State wanted more security in anticipation of massive fines.
Following this trail of money was one of the reasons used by the prosecutors to have the inquiry time extended for the fifth time.
On March 17, the Attorney General, Joana Marques Vidal, accepted that there should be an "extension of time allowed for the conclusion of the investigation and the writing of the final order," and, although no deadline was set, Vidal will review the case next month and hopefully set an end date by which time formal charges need to be made against Sócrates, Salgado, Granadeiro and many, or all of the other 26 suspects, or the case is archived.
