Crédit Agricole filed two lawsuits against Ricardo Salgado, former shareholder of Banco Espírito Santo, as well as against Morais Pires, former CEO and CFO of BES, and against Rioforte, for a total value of one billion euros. Rioforte was the company that aggregated the non-financial arm of the Espírito Santo group.
The former BES shareholder's insurer also decided to pursue litigation against the same parties, a move that aims to hold the former managers accountable for the bank's collapse. This action follows the collapse of the Espírito Santo Group, which shook the Portuguese financial system in 2014.
The lawsuits aim to demonstrate that the former BES leaders acted negligently or fraudulently in managing the bank, contributing to its financial deterioration. Crédit Agricole, as an international financial institution with interests in Portugal, now seeks to recover part of the losses associated with the collapse.
