Former president of Montepio bank António Tomás Correia is the latest banker to face investigation for corruption.
According to an exposé by Expresso, Correia is under investigation for qualified fraud, abuse of confidence, money-laundering, fiscal fraud and “eventual corruption”.
The probe centres on a transfer of €1.5 million that the former bank chief is purported to have received from businessman and building mogul José Guilherme – the same businessman “who became famous for giving former BES boss Ricardo Salgado” a €14 million “thank you present”.
The €1.5 million payment is connected, says Expresso, to €74 million that Guilherme sought to borrow from Montepio and BES for the purchase and development of Marconi Parque, in Amadora.
It is a case that goes back over a decade. Under scrutiny, says Expresso, are payments made from a Swiss bank account connected to two offshore accounts in the names of Guilherme and his son Paulo.
The transfers took place between the summer of 2006 and the beginning of 2007.
Forced to step down in 2015 due to the parlous state of Montepio, Correia is understood to be denying any form of wrongdoing. He told Expresso earlier this month that he did not even know José Guilherme, who, in the meantime, has left Portugal to reside in Angola
Guilherme, in the meantime, is now living in Angola.
