Former bank chief Jardim Gonçalves is to lodge an appeal against his conviction in the Millennium BCP case.
The founder of bailed-out Banco Comercial Portuguese (Millennium BCP) Jorge Jardim Gonçalves clearly disagrees with the decision made by the judges at the criminal court in Lisbon, who convicted him for the crime of market manipulation, but acquitted him of forgery charges.
At the launch of his biography today in Lisbon, written by Luís Osório, Gonçalves was asked if he would appeal.
"I will,” said Gonçalves, still convinced that he was convicted for something that he considers merely a ‘technical consolidation of the accounts’ which is quite different to market manipulation, in his opinion.
"I am confident. If I was not confident I wouldn’t appeal," said Gonçalves, adding that he had no regrets about anything at all in his past, a statement that alludes to a state of mind that few humans have ever achieved.
The launch of the biography ‘The Power of Silence’ was held at Lisbon’s Catholic University to a packed audience.
Many public figures made a point of turning up, not necessarily to buy the book but to show support to the BCP founder who had led the bank to the position where it needed an emergency bail-out of €3 billion in 2012, taken from Portugal's IMF/EU bailout funding package.
Among the Gonçalves fan club was former President of the Republic, António Ramalho Eanes who wrote the preface, the president of Millennium BCP Foundation, Almeida Santos; former Minister, Fernando Nogueira, the politicians Freitas do Amaral, Manuela Ferreira Leite, Pina Moura and Manuel Monteiro, and non-executive Chairman of Portugal Telecom, Henrique Granadeiro.
Jardim Gonçalves, who founded BCP, was sentenced earlier this month to two years in prison, suspended upon payment of €600,000, for the crime of market manipulation.
The other defendants in teh case all were former directors of BCP. Filipe Pinhal and António Rodrigues also were sentenced to two years in prison, suspended on payment of €300,000 each. Christopher de Beck was acquitted of all charges.
The four were acquitted of the crime of forgery and the court ordered that the three guilty defendants be banned from holding directorships or management positions in companies or financial institutions for four years.
