Rodrigo Antunes / LUSA
José Sócrates leaving the Justice Campus
Interrogated in the Operation Marquês trial, the lawyer confirmed the existence of the safe with 200 thousand euros, noting that the amount belonged to Carlos Santos Silva and functioned as a working fund “for expenses that were necessary in the companies”.
A lawyer accused in the Operation Marquês case confirmed today that handed over 10 thousand euros to the driver Joseph Socrates at the request of the former prime minister’s supposed front man, but he assured that he never felt like he was committing crimes.
Gonçalo Trindade Ferreira50 years old, worked for more than a decade for a Carlos Santos Silvaconsidered by the Public Prosecutor’s Office to be one of José Sócrates’ front men, and is responsible for three crimes of money laundering: two for having handled the documentation for the purchase of houses in Greater Lisbon and Paris, businesses allegedly used to bring money to the former ruler’s sphere, and one relating to 200 thousand euros stored in a bank safe.
Interrogated this Tuesday in the Operation Marquês trial, in Lisbon, the lawyer certified the existence of the safe with 200 thousand eurosnoting that the amount belonged to Carlos Santos Silva and worked as working capital for expenses that were necessary in the engineer’s companies.
“This value was not delivered at once. At the time, we were just before the collapse of BES and we had many workers spread across Brazil, Algeria, Venezuela. We had a lot of works”, he explained.
“And the engineer told me that I was the person who had connections with many employees and if I wanted to save some amount in case it is necessary”, he added.
On one occasion, however, ended up taking an envelope with 10 thousand euross to the then driver of José Sócrates, who had no professional connection to the businessman for whom he provided services.
“The only time money came into my hands was 10 thousand euros for João Perna. Carlos Santos Silva didn’t say what was insidebut it was the envelope he had delivered and left that morning,” he said.
The lawyer added that he also delivered envelopes to the ex-wife of the head of Government between 2005 and 2011, who believed to contain documentation and not money.
For the Public Ministry, the amounts would actually belong to José Sócrates and not to Carlos Santos Silva and would result from acts of corruption.
Gonçalo Trindade Ferreira also assured that everything he did in the business of the houses in Greater Lisbon and Paris was as a lawyer, including drafting a lease contract in the French capital with retroactive effect, in which the landlord was Carlos Santos Silva and tenant José Sócrates.
“At no point did I feel like I was committing anything.. I was fulfill my dutyr”, he stated, insisting that he only met the former prime minister the day before he was arrested, in November 2014, and that, at the time, “he was a kid” and “I was amazed at being able to leave Lisbon in the morning to go to Paris to pay a visit”.
José Sócrates, aged 68, Carlos Santos Silva, aged 67, João Perna, aged 56, Sofia Fava, of the same age, and Gonçalo Trindade Ferreira are five of the 21 accused in the case, who have, in general, denied committing 117 crimes economic-financial issues that are globally attributed to them.
The former socialist ruler is responsible, among other crimes, for three corruptionfor having, allegedly, received money to benefit the Lena groupthe Espírito Santo Group and the Algarve resort of Vale do Lobo.
The trial began on July 3, 2025 at the Central Criminal Court of Lisbon and the crimes would have been committed between 2005 and 2014.
