Manuel Pinho served sentence on 1.5-hectare estate with no days in prison
The former minister was sentenced to eight and a half years for corruption, money laundering and tax fraud, but never entered a prison. CNN Portugal analyses the case.
Former minister convicted of corruption completed nearly five years of house arrest on an estate in Braga
CNN Portugal reports on a case that, according to the channel, "merits study in Portuguese justice and public debate": Manuel Pinho, a former minister convicted by the Supreme Court of Justice (STJ) to 8 years and 6 months in prison for corruption, money laundering and qualified tax fraud, did not spend a single day of his sentence in prison. Instead, he was detained for nearly five years at Quinta do Assento, a family property in the parish of Gondizalves, on the outskirts of Braga, with a dwelling, garden and walled grounds of approximately 1.5 hectares — equivalent to three football pitches.
With two-thirds of his sentence deemed to have been served, he is unlikely ever to be detained again.
From a six-million-euro bail to an electronic tag in the garden
Pinho's legal proceedings began with a bail of 6 million euros imposed by judge Carlos Alexandre to keep him at liberty. The former politician refused to pay it, which led to house arrest in December 2021. His defence lodged successive appeals, all rejected by higher courts.
The Public Prosecutor had a year to file formal charges and did so on the final day of the deadline, 15 December 2022, against Pinho and other suspects, including banker Ricardo Salgado and the defendant's wife. Even during the first-instance trial, the restrictive measure was maintained.
In June 2024, the first-instance court sentenced Pinho to 10 years in prison for four concurrent crimes. The Court of Appeal of Lisbon confirmed the decision in full. The STJ subsequently set the sentence at 8 years and 6 months, with mitigating factors related to the defendant's advanced age, his removal from political office, his good conduct and the age of the crimes.
During house arrest, Pinho even obtained judicial authorisation to move about a larger area of the estate, after arguing that the electronic tag would trigger an alarm whenever he moved away from inside the house to tend to the garden.
The legal framework that made this outcome possible
The legal explanation for this outcome lies in Article 215 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The maximum period for preventive detention and house arrest in cases of complex financial crime — such as the EDP case — is generally 3 years and 4 months. However, this provision includes an exception: after conviction in first instance, and during appeal phases before the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court, the maximum limit of the restrictive measure becomes equivalent to half of the sentence imposed in the last decision handed down.
As the STJ set the sentence at 8 years and 6 months, and house arrest had already lasted approximately 70 months, the legal period was exhausted. Pinho was released from the electronic tag almost immediately following the Supreme Court's ruling.
Four crimes, nine judges, three courts
The crimes for which Pinho was convicted are detailed in the decisions of nine judges from three different courts. The first is passive corruption for an illicit act, linked to a monthly allowance and a corrupt pact maintained with the Espírito Santo Group and Ricardo Salgado even during the period when Pinho held ministerial office. The second count of passive corruption is associated with the financing of a chair at Columbia University. The third is qualified tax fraud, for the concealment and non-declaration of income received in offshore accounts. The fourth is money laundering, through manoeuvres to conceal the financial circuit of funds arising from the GES.
The judicial decisions include passages such as this: "The defendant Manuel Pinho acted as a true agent of BES/GES within the Government, placing the private interests of the banking group above his duties of impartiality and fairness as a member of the Executive." Another states that "it was proven that Ricardo Salgado guaranteed to Manuel Pinho the continuation of payment of monthly allowances even after he assumed the position of minister, ensuring his loyalty."
Pinho himself has presented himself publicly as a victim of an unprecedented judicial system: "There is no memory in all of Europe of a politician or former politician being held for five continuous years under house arrest without a final sentence. It is an unparalleled aberration," he declared.
Proceedings marked by instability and contradictory decisions
CNN Portugal also recalls that the case was transferred between several judges with contradictory decisions, before being finally assigned by random draw to judge Carlos Alexandre. This instability continued through the investigation phase and was accompanied by successive episodes that made the case one of the most complex and debated in recent Portuguese justice.
For CNN Portugal, the central question this case raises is whether the majority of Portuguese people will not conclude that there is one justice for some privileged individuals and another for everyone else — a doubt that the channel considers legitimate given the set of circumstances that allowed someone convicted of corruption, money laundering and tax fraud to serve his sentence on a 1.5-hectare plot of land, without ever having entered a prison.
Source: CNN Portugal