TIago Petinga / Lusa
Carlos Brandão, former administrator of Novo Banco
Two accused were constituted and four house searches were carried out to “discover the truth”. To this day, director of Novo Banco, Brandão is suspected of qualified tax fraud, money laundering and forgery.
This Monday, Carlos Brandão He was director of Novo Banco. This Tuesday, still in the morning, he was revoked with immediate effect and, hours later, he was indicted, for suspected fraud, money laundering and forgery, according to a note from the Attorney General’s Office (PGR).
“As part of an investigation led by the 4th Section of the Central Department of Investigation and Criminal Action (DCIAP), investigations are being carried out search for identification and seizure of documents and other means of evidence of interest in discovering the truth”, announced the PGR, in a note published on its official page.
At issue, he reinforces, may be “facts capable of constituting the commission of crimes of qualified tax fraud, money laundering e falsification by an administrator of Novo Banco”.
The process is under judicial secrecy.
“Suspicious financial operations”
Novo Banco’s Supervisory Board approved this Tuesday Brandão’s position as member of the Board of Directors and head of Risks, with immediate effect, after suspicious financial transactionsaccording to market information.
“This decision was taken following the identification, through the Bank’s internal processes, of suspicious financial transactions carried out in his personal sphere, which gave rise to a complaint to the authorities”, reads the note sent to the Securities Market Commission Furniture (CMVM).
According to the PGR note, were constituted two defendantswhich are not identified. They were carried out four home searchesa search at a banking establishment and seven non-domestic searches, with the participation of a magistrate from the Public Prosecutor’s Office, a judicial magistrate and several members of the National Unit to Combat Corruption (UNCC) of the Judiciary Police.
In the statement to the market, Novo Banco detailed that the operations in question are not related to or involve, “in any way”, the institution and, therefore, “have no impact on customers, accounts or customer operationsthe financial position or activity of the Bank, its commercial operations, the risk management system or its employees”.
After detecting the situation, the bank carried out a internal investigation and presented complaint to the Public Prosecutor’s Officewhich resulted in the opening of an investigation that is ongoing. The institution also reported the matter to the banking regulator and the competent supervisory authority in this matter.
“All necessary measures appropriate to the situation were immediately adopted, with a view to protecting the Bank and all its ‘stakeholders’, with the Bank acting in full coordination and cooperation with the competent authorities”, says the same note.
The Nomination Committee of the General and Supervisory Board activated Carlos Brandão’s succession plan, the decision of which will be announced as soon as the process is completed. For now, the bank’s executive president, Mark Bourkewill take on the role of Risk Manager on an interim basis.
Carlos Brandão joined Novo Banco as coordinating director of the Risk Department in July 2017 and, in August 2022, he was appointed as executive member of the Board of Directors. He was also executive president of Bankinter in Portugal and worked at Banco Santander and Barclays.
