With the death of João Rendeiro, criminal proceedings will cease, but no decisions on civil applications. Therefore, according to the source associated with the process, the goods the former banker sets out to pay the damages he was ordered to pay.
It is recalled that four properties were seized from João Rendeiro in order to secure compensation, as part of a trial in which he was sentenced to 10 years in prison, in addition to 124 works of art seized in 2010. a plot in Quinta Patino, an apartment in Lisbon and another in Paço de Arcos – and € 1.5 million in cash, accounts and bank assets.
Rogério Alves, former president of the Bar Association, declared early in the afternoon that “the proceedings have not been extinguished, only João Rendeiro’s criminal liability has been extinguished. As for you, the cases have been shelved.” However, he told CNN Portugal: “If there are more defendants in these cases, they will follow their own direction against these people.”
Miguel Matias, a criminal justice expert, explained to the Lusa agency that this only applies to João Rendeiro’s criminal responsibilities, not to the other defendants in the proceedings. “All the circumstances related to criminal liability have been extinguished for João Rendeiro, but because there are cases where there are more defendants, the cases continue to be in relation to others,” he explained.
From a civilian point of view, Miguel Matias also explained: “It is important to know what is João Rendeiro’s legacy and if his heirs happen to receive sums related to this legacy, if João Rendeiro has debts, they will be liable until what they have received.”
Former BPP president João Rendeiro was found dead in a prison where he was held in South Africa this Friday, CNN reports and PÚBLICO confirmed with his South African lawyer.
June Marks told the PUBLIC that the former banker was found hanged and that the authorities were investigating the circumstances of his death, as he was presumably a split cell with about 50 prisoners. June Marks said a preparatory session on the extradition process in Portugal scheduled for May 20 had been brought forward this Friday and that the guards who were going to take him to court found the former banker dead. The trial of the extradition case was scheduled to take place on 13-30. June.
Natasha Ramkissoonn, a spokeswoman for the South African Public Prosecutor’s Office, also said the circumstances of João Rendeiro’s death needed to be investigated as he was detained in Westville Prison. However, it gives a different version of the former banker’s journey to court. A South African PGR was notified earlier this week by a spokesman in South Africa that he intends to stop representing João Rendeiro. With that in mind, the South African authorities decided to summon the former banker to court this Friday to address the legal issues surrounding the change of lawyer and to see if everything is in order for a preparatory hearing to be held. May 20th.