The Lisbon Central Criminal Court acquitted all eight defendants, including former banker Ricardo Salgado, on Monday in a corruption case linked to Banco do Brasil. Judge Ana Paula Rosa ruled that the alleged crimes had not been proven.
Prosecutors had accused Salgado, the former president of Banco Espírito Santo, of funnelling $1.8 million through offshore entities to Allan Simões Toledo, a former vice-president of Banco do Brasil, in exchange for a $200 million credit line for the Portuguese bank. The transactions under scrutiny date from between 2011 and 2014, and prosecutors filed charges in December 2021.
The trial, which began on May 20, 2025, concluded with a full acquittal. The case had proceeded to trial after a July 2024 judicial review confirmed the indictment.