Rui Pinto is sentenced to four years in prison, suspended, for computer hacking and attempted extortion against a sports investment fund. This whistleblower had revealed secrets of football business.
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He published the salaries of Lionel Messi and Neymar, revealed a rape accusation against Cristiano Ronaldo and ethnic profiling at Paris Saint-Germain. Rui Pinto was sentenced, Monday, September 11, to four years in prison, suspended, for computer hacking and attempted extortion against a sports investment fund. The Portuguese whistleblower behind the “Football Leaks” in 2015 was at the heart of a trial opened three years ago in Lisbon.
His revelations shed light on questionable practices in the world of football and led to tax adjustments and legal investigations in several countries. But Rui Pinto admitted, during his trial, to having committed numerous illegal offenses to obtain these documents. Of the 89 computer crimes he was responsible for in court, he was condemned for attacks “illegitimate” to computer systems as well as for “aggravated correspondence violation”. The whistleblower notably benefited from a partial amnesty, declared by the Portuguese government, during the visit of Pope Francis to Lisbon at the beginning of August.
According to the prosecution, Rui Pinto also wanted to blackmail the boss of the Doyen group: he demanded 500,000 euros to put an end to his publications of compromising documents. The presiding judge of the Lisbon court observed on Monday that “freedom to inform does not justify the violation of privacy”. During his trial, Rui Pinto claimed to regret some of his actions, but theare “Football Leaks” stay for him “a cause for pride and no shame”.
More legal proceedings to come
Rui Pinto should appear again before the Portuguese courts: the prosecution recently drew up a new indictment accusing him of 377 new computer crimes, committed until his arrest. But for a year, Portuguese justice has been cooperating with the one it has just sentenced : the whistleblower notably provides him with the encrypted data that he was able to collect.
The French authorities are also asking for his cooperation. Rui Pinto also revealed the “Luanda Leaks”, in January 2020. This investigation demonstrated that the daughter of the former Angolan president accumulated an immense fortune fraudulently during the reign of her father.