Sócrates trial on money laundering adjourned to 30 October
The trial of José Sócrates on money laundering charges has been adjourned following a motion by the former prime minister against duplication of the case.
Hearing suspended following Sócrates' motion
The trial of former prime minister José Sócrates on money laundering charges, scheduled for Monday in Lisbon, has been adjourned to 30 October, according to CNN Portugal. The adjournment followed a motion filed by Sócrates against alleged duplication of the case.
The Public Prosecution Service (MP) only became aware of the motion on Tuesday and requested three days to analyse it, which led to the suspension of the hearing. Sócrates himself described the trial as "absurd".
The case stems from the instructional decision in Operation Marquês, dated 2021. The MP's charges, filed in 2017, describe the alleged use, between 2011 and 2014, of bank accounts of a company controlled by businessman Carlos Santos Silva — as well as those of his wife and Sócrates' driver — to transfer illicit funds to the former officeholder.
According to the MP, Santos Silva functioned as one of the front men to whom the Head of Government between 2005 and 2011 allegedly resorted to conceal amounts resulting from alleged corruption benefiting the Lena Group, the Espírito Santo Group and the luxury development at Vale do Lobo.
Source: CNN Portugal