The Eagles paid more than two million euros for the ghost’s services. The goal was to extract money from the club and return it without a trace.
Exclusives
• Photo: Paolo Calado
Luis Felipe Vieira was not present in court, but was represented by lawyers also defending Benfica SAD.
Luis Felipe Vieira and Benfica Sad are on trial in the “Saco Azul” case. The investigating judge considers that the former president of Benfica was the mastermind of a fictitious scheme to provide services for the circulation of money within the scope of the embodied institution, between 2016 and 2017.
Vieira will sit in the dock on three counts of tax fraud and 19 counts of document forgery. It concerns computer services worth more than $2 million, which were charged to Benfica, but never carried out.
“The plan was devised by Luis Felipe Vieira. “Remove large sums of money from the SAD and return a significant portion of the funds without leaving any trace,” explained Jorge Bernardes de Mello, who ratified the Public Ministry’s accusations and sent all the accused to trial, including That’s former SAD director Domingos Soares de Oliveira.
While reading the directive decision of the case, on Tuesday, on campus, the judge confirmed that the “simulated” contracts were signed by Vieira and Domingos Soares de Oliveira. “They were fully aware that the invoices did not conform to any process and that their use only resulted in VAT deduction and IRS reduction, causing losses to the state.”
Benfica’s defense, which also represents Vieira and Domingos Soares de Oliveira, expressed its disappointment with the decision, considering that the judge “underestimated the value of all the evidence presented during the investigation.”
The judge finds that the defendants feel extremely guilty
The crimes were co-authored by Questão Flexível and José Bernardes. Benfica’s former chief financial officer, Miguel Moreira, will also be on trial. The judge highlighted the high degree of guilt of all the accused.The explanations are not convincing
The investigating judge noted that “the defendants did not provide reliable information in the investigation” and were “fully aware of the invoices issued for the apparent provision of services,” and that a conviction might be “highly likely.”
Vieira will sit in the dock on three counts of tax fraud and 19 counts of document forgery.
