Lawyer João Ramalho, a partner at PLMJ at the time of Rui Pinto’s alleged attack on the office’s computer system, admitted this Tuesday that he could have emails linked to the Luanda Leaks case, whose source is the creator of Football Leaks.
At the end of this morning’s testimony, at the 17th session of the Football Leaks trial at the Central Criminal Court of Lisbon, the tax law specialist revealed, after a question from the panel of judges, that he had no clients in the football universe, but it was not so definitive in relation to the Luanda Leaks case.
The case exposed in January 2020 alleged financial schemes by businesswoman Isabel dos Santos and her husband, which will have allowed them to withdraw money from the Angolan public purse through tax havens.
“Personally, I don’t remember working [para Isabel dos Santos], but if there was a tax law issue, I should definitely have emails about it in my mailbox, “he said, adding:” Then there was a newspaper that published a news related to the tax area and I realized that I could to be [através de] something from our department [na PLMJ]. It was a story linked to the engineer Isabel dos Santos “.
According to João Ramalho, 51, who was connected to the law firm between 1999 and 2019, the intrusion into the computer system between the end of 2018 and the beginning of 2019 generated “a lot of concern” and even led “to a cut in the relationship “by some customers, with” serious equity and personal implications “in society.
“I was a partner at the firm. I know the value that PLMJ had to invest in support services and system improvement to understand what was happening, it was thousands and thousands of euros. There was a part of that value, very significant, that represented a loss and less profits for the partners “, stressed the lawyer, also listing damages in terms of billing and in personal terms.
Faced by Rui Pinto’s defense with the impact of the revelations in the scope of Football Leaks and Luanda Leaks, João Ramalho considered, as a citizen, not to appreciate the type of operations exposed in these dossiers. However, he reiterated that “the means do not justify the ends” and that he was “highly annoyed and offended” with access to the electronic mailbox.
“There is a weighting of values and it does not justify everything. If not, I would see someone stealing in the street, I would shoot and it was justified”, he shot, without forgetting to point out to Rui Pinto’s defense lawyer, Luísa Teixeira da Mota, that he type of situation “one always tolerates others better” and that because it involved him directly was “complicated”.
The first part of today’s session also included the hearings of lawyer Paulo Farinha Alves – who reported in the courtroom a “very significant discomfort” with the intrusion into society’s computer system – and information systems technician António Faria, who he said that they came to view the blog ‘Mercado de Benfica’, where PLMJ documents were published, in a secure room without connection to the internal system.
The session continues in the afternoon with the hearings of lawyers José Miguel Júdice, Nuno Morais Sarmento, Cármen Vasquez and Inês Pinto da Costa.
Rui Pinto, 31, is responsible for a total of 90 crimes: 68 of undue access, 14 of violation of correspondence, six of illegitimate access, targeting entities such as Sporting, Doyen, the PLMJ law firm, the Portuguese Federation of Football (FPF) and the Attorney General’s Office (PGR), and also for computer sabotage to Sporting’s SAD and for extortion, in the attempted form. This last crime concerns Doyen and was also what led to the pronunciation of the lawyer Aníbal Pinto.
The creator of Football Leaks has been free since August 7, “due to his collaboration” with the Judiciary Police (PJ) and his “critical sense”, but for security reasons, he is part of the protection program of witnesses in an undisclosed location and under police protection.
.
