Joe Berardo was arrested this Tuesday morning, in a mega-operation of the Judiciary Police and Public Ministry, on suspicion of fraud in financing granted by Caixa Geral de Depósitos.
This operation aimed at the arrest, with a warrant issued, of the Madeiran businessman, on suspicion of crimes such as tax fraud and money laundering, for the way he managed to obtain, in 2006, loans from Caixa Geral de Depósitos, which in 2015 still revealed an exposure of the public bank to Fundação Berardo in the order of 268 million euros in bad debts.
The information is being provided by Correio da Manhã, which reports that the steps are taking place in several places in the country, namely, in Lisbon, Funchal and Sesimbra.
According to this publication, about 50 searches are underway as part of an inquiry conducted by the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Central Department of Investigation and Criminal Action in the Caixa Geral Depósitos case.
According to a note from the Public Prosecutor’s Office, “20 domiciled, 25 non-domiciled, three to banking establishments and one to a lawyer’s office, and two arrest warrants were issued.”