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A Portuguese court Monday handed a six-year jail term to Ricardo Salgado, the former head of the Espirito Santo bank (BES), for breach of trust eight years after the bank’s collapse.
Salgado was forced out of the bank amid allegations of accounting irregularities.
The court found that the 77-year-old Salgado had transferred more than 10 million euros ($10.8 million) from the Espirito Santo group to offshore accounts under his control.
His trial was part of a vast anti-corruption dragnet by Portuguese authorities.
It has also extended to former prime minister Jose Socrates, who has been awaiting trial on alleged laundering and alleged falsification of documents since last April.
In 2014, the Portuguese state had to inject 4.9 billion euros into the bank as a bailout.
The Espirito Santo family, the last dynasty of Portuguese bankers, started off as money changers in the 19th century. After the 1974 revolution, the BES was privatised and returned into the hands of the family in 1991.
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