“I had no doubts!” Edmundo Martinho with a clear conscience with the Santa Casa Games deal

Interviewed by Renaissance, Edmundo Martinho, former provider of Santa Casa, regrets that Ana Jorge’s management, now dismissed, “interrupted a process that had tremendous potential, without it being replaced by an alternative strategy”.

The former manager says that the departure of Ana Jorge’s team was predictable, but he did not expect it to happen so soon. He admits, on the other hand, that the terms of the Ministry of Labor’s statement are unusual, however, he believes that they “mirror what the relationship was between the new Government and the administration of Santa Casa”.

The audit, requested by the Government of António Costa, of the companies that managed the expansion to other markets, such as Brazil, did not find criminal offenses or serious irregularities, according to SIC.

In statements to Renaissance, The office of the Minister of Labor, Solidarity and Social Security, Maria do Rosário Palma Ramalho, says that the conclusions were sent to the Court of Auditors.

Regarding the audit of the internationalization process that he launched, Edmundo Martinho is confident: “I had no doubt whatsoever that there was no type of illegality”

The audit process for the Santa Casa Games business is now complete and, according to SIC, no criminal offenses or serious irregularities were found. Weren’t you surprised?

Of course. My reaction cannot be anything other than confirmation of what I already knew. In fact, if you notice, since August last year, when people started talking about the subject, in the beginning, there was talk of illegalities. Then, it moved on to irregularities and, lately, we are even talking about non-conformities. I don’t know the audit report, but I had no doubt that there was no type of illegality in this internationalization process and, therefore, we are calm about that. Therefore, my reaction can only be a confirmation of what I already knew was going to happen.

And what can you say about the accounts of Santa Casa da Misericórdia? Apparently, they are in pretty bad shape at this point. What is this situation due to?

I don’t know. In fact, it seems, according to what appeared in the newspapers, the 2022/2023 accounts were redone. I had the opportunity to address to Dr. Ana Jorge, before she resigned, a request for documentation and information to understand how accounts are audited by the entities that legally have to do so – whether from the point of view of Santa Casa’s statutes, either from a legal point of view – can be changed. At least I don’t understand.

However, this issue of Santa Casa’s accounts had been predictable for a long time and it was within this logic of predictability that it was decided to move forward in the process of financial consolidation and find additional sources of revenue. That’s why we moved forward with internationalization. What is regrettable, I believe, is that a process that had tremendous potential was completely interrupted, without being replaced by an alternative strategy. To this day, it is not clear what the understanding of this resigning Administration is regarding the issue of revenues and the financial balance of Santa Casa. You can’t tell. At least I can’t figure it out. Now, there is no doubt that it is a situation that deserves attention, but it cannot be focused on cuts, cuts, cuts, which make it even more difficult for Santa Casa to act in what is its essential world, which is support to the most needy citizens.