Lisbon’s court of appeal has cranked up pressure on the Bank of Portugal to come clean over CGD’s “most ruinous loans”.
Up till now, the central bank has shielded the state bank’s major debtors on the grounds of banking secrecy.
But according to reports this week, the Public Ministry now has evidence to prove CGD has been deliberately hiding the extent of debts of its major creditors for years.
The appeal court’s ruling is to be sent to BdP, stressing that the bank must furnish the Public Ministry with the the information it is seeking, writes Público today.
The bottom line is that the Public Ministry investigation has exposed management practices at the bank that could “substantiate the intentional favouring of determined economic agents in detriment of others” when it came to access to the credit market, explains Público.
Names being bandied about today include former CGD bosses Santos Ferreira, Faria de Oliveira and José de Matos.
Numbers involve at least €1.4 billion “hidden” between 2007 and 2016. Público suggests the figure could be even more.
Slowly, slowly, investigators would appear to be closing in on yet another major institutional swindle.
