Jose Maria ricciardiformer president of Banco Espírito Investimento (BESI), definitely no longer had assets seized preventively within the framework of a precautionary measure launched by the Credit Recovery Fund for the commercial purposes of Espírito Santo. International and Río Fuerte.

The same thing happened with Pedro. Mosquito net do Amaral (heir to a family that is not of Espírito Santo blood, but that managed to become the fifth clan of Espírito Santo), António Souto (former administrator of the BES), Rui Silveira (former administrator of BES with the portfolio of the legal department), Jorge Carvalho Martins and João ash (these last two former administrators of the BES and Novo Banco).

The court lifts the preventive seizure of José Maria Ricciardi’s assets, including a pension of 11 thousand euros

The decision was made by Section 8 of the Lisbon Court of Appeals, which did not uphold the appeal of the Credit Recovery Fund and considered that the legal requirements to decree the preventive seizure of assets had not been met and ordered the “lifting of previously ordered detention”. The decision will now be final.

what was at stake

Like the other visas, ricciardi He thus recovers the management of all his personal assets, which includes a pension of more than 11,000 euros to which he was entitled.

In addition to the pension, it involved taking out mortgages on several properties belonging to his personal assets, such as his house in Cascais. The Lisbon Court of Appeal considered that ricciardi did not carry out any “encumbrance of assets, with a view to reducing the equity guarantee of possible creditors”as stated by the Credit Recovery Fund.

The court valued the fact that the former president of the BES The investment made significant amortizations of the financing it contracted (and which gave rise to the contested mortgages).

“Jose Maria Ricciardi managed to demonstrate that the mortgages” made in the name of BCP “are not related to the intention to tax/reduce its assets,” reads the ruling to which El Observador had access.

This decision of the Lisbon Relationship confirms a previous decision of the Central Civil Court of Lisbon, from July 2023, and which had already benefited the former directors equally.doBES and the aforementioned Espírito Santo Group.

In the first instance, the judge in charge of the case assessed the fact that there was no reference to any liability in the majority of the open judicial processes, that is, criminal, administrative and civil proceedings.

Furthermore, the activity of ricciardi, limited to investment banking, would also have nothing to do with the scrutiny of the power and management of Ricardo Salgado. And no omission or violation on the part of the former leader of the BES Investment that would jeopardize the protection of creditors.

In July 2022, the Lisbon Relationship (through a decision made by a different group than the one that now decided to confirm the lifting of the seizure) had decided to freeze a very diverse set of assets and funds. This gave rise to several challenge processes that have now ended.