The banker Ricardo Oliveira, one of the defendants in the ongoing BPN corruption case, has been badly injured following a fire at his villa in Vale de Lobo, Algarve.
The fire started when Oliveira tried to light a fire using liquid fuel. The product exploded and caused a fire, setting light to Oliveira in the process. Am emergency call was received by firefighters around 20.00 on Saturday.
The businessman plunged into the swimming pool but still suffered serious injuries, especially to his hands, and was attended to by INEM paramedics, taken to Faro hospital and later went to a burns unit in Lisbon. His wife also suffered injuries to her legs but these were said to be light.
Ricardo Oliveira is one of the defendants in the BPN case where the property developer is accused in two cases of aggravated fraud, tax fraud and the falsification of documents in a real estate investment scam.
Oliveira became notable for his collection of 74 vintage cars valued at several million euros, paid for from illicit gains, according to the prosecutors. This collection has been auctioned off to help clear an €18 million debt to the state.
Oliveira has been described as key in the illiciit scheme run by BPN boss Jose Oliveira e Costa of buying and then concealing property for BPN's property arm SLN Group. Oliveira so far has offered no indication of where the sum of €45 million in his possession came from.
