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Portugal Ex-PM Socrates to Face Trial for Alleged Money Laundering; Graft Charges Dropped

Portugal Ex-PM Socrates to Face Trial for Alleged Money Laundering; Graft Charges Dropped

LISBON-More than six years after his arrest in a major corruption investigation, Portugal’s former Prime Minister Jose Socrates will stand trial, but only on lesser charges of money laundering and falsifying documents, a judge in Lisbon ruled on Friday.
In a decision that sent shockwaves through the country, Judge Ivo Rosa of Portugal’s criminal court for preliminary hearings dismissed the corruption accusations against Socrates, 63, as weak, inconsistent or lacking sufficient evidence, and noted that the statute of limitations had run out on some of them.
“Prosecutors’ arguments are based on speculation and fantasy,” he said while reading out his decision.
Rosa also dismissed tax fraud charges against Socrates, who will be tried on three counts of money laundering worth some 1.7 million euros and three others of faking documents related to service contracts and the purchase and renting of an apartment in Paris.
Socrates has denied wrongdoing, labelling the investigation as politically motivated as he sought to avoid a trial.
Businessman Carlos Santos Silva, a friend of the former prime minister who is accused of acting as a middleman in the deals, will also stand trial. He also has denied the charges.
A socialist who served as prime minister from 2005 to 2011, Socrates was arrested at Lisbon’s airport in November 2014 as part of Portugal’s biggest-ever corruption investigation, codenamed Operation Marquis. It was the first time an ex-premier had been arrested in the country.

He spent months in jail before being placed under house arrest. (Reuters)