The former leader at BES subsidiary Rioforte, João Rodrigues Pena, said today that he believed that the company was "unfortunately, doomed from the start," stating that the collapse was all down to poor management within Grupo Espírito Santo.
"Today I am convinced with the information that I have, which is to a large extent public due to the work of the commission of inquiry, that the collapse of Grupo Espírito Santo was due to poor management practices and its serious financial situation which went for years and which the events of September 2013 to August that year unfortunately led to the inevitable collapse," said Pena to the parliamentary commission that is looking into the management of Banco Espírito Santo and Grupo Espírito Santo.