Lawyer of Torres Vedras suspended by the Order after conviction for fraud

O lawyer Paulo Saraiva, with office in Torres Vedras, was suspended from office for two years by the Order, after transiting on trial the sentence to four years in prison, with suspended sentence, for qualified fraud against a business client.

In a notice dated October, to which the Lusa agency had access today, the Bar Association states that “the disciplinary penalty of two years of suspension of the practice of advocacy and ancillary sanction” of 4,700 euros was imposed on the participant who motivated the opening of a disciplinary procedure.

The sentence of four years in prison, suspended for the same period in its execution, by qualified fraud is contained in a judgment delivered in January 2025 by the Court of Lisbon and the decision passed this year on trial.

The lawyer was also ordered to pay compensation of EUR 77,240, the “value of the damage caused” to the injured company, its client, plus interest.

The law firm of which he is a majority partner was convicted for the same crime to pay a fine of 54 thousand euros.

This professional had previously been convicted of falsification of documents, according to his criminal record in one of the cases in which he is accused, consulted by the Lusa agency.

The lawyer is also being investigated for other crimes of qualified fraud allegedly committed against private customers, and there are at least 10 cases in investigation in the Lisbon Norte District, according to sources related to the proceedings.

The defender will have appropriated high amounts of money that asked customers, in the context of judicial proceedings or pawns that he accompanied in his representation, without getting the proceedings going or returning the amounts.

As a result of his conduct, complaints were made to the Bar Association.