The Public Prosecutor’s Office believes that manager Volkert Schmidt made ruinous deals on purpose to favor third parties, causing losses to the bank and, indirectly, to the State.
The Public Ministry is investigating a series of real estate operations carried out by Novo Banco that will have harmed the Portuguese State.
At the heart of the so-called “Operation Haircut” is the sale of land in the Sesimbra forest and shares in real estate companies for 14 million euros, despite these same assets having been valued at much higher values in the previous decade. In 2014, they had been estimated at 340 million euros and, in 2019, around 100 million, says .
The investigation, led by the Central Department of Investigation and Penal Action (DCIAP) and supported by the Judiciary Police, led to searches at the end of October. The main target is Volkert Schmidt, Spanish manager of GNB Real Estate, the entity responsible for managing the bank’s properties, successor to the former BES. The Public Prosecutor’s Office suspects that Schmidt participated in deliberately harmful sales to favor third parties, causing losses to Novo Banco and, indirectly, to the State, which compensated the losses through the Resolution Fund.
Among the transactions under investigation are Herdade do Cabeço da Pedra (130 hectares, sold for 4.5 million euros), Herdade da Ferraria (268 hectares, for 1.5 million), and a set of land totaling 736 hectares, sold for 8.7 million. According to the search warrant, the MP attributes to the manager the intention of “evaluate for zero, sell for 10 and make a splash”, further indicating that this strategy would be known by Novo Banco’s top management.
In addition to real estate, the research also covers sale of several credit portfolios inherited from BES, designated “Viriato”, “Nata”, “Sertorius”, “Albatroz”, “Nata II” and “GNB Vida”. These operations may also have caused high losses to the public treasury.
The MP points to three suspected crimes: corruption in the private sector, qualified fraud and money laundering.
