Hacker who leaked Manchester City documents convicted but spared jail
The Portuguese computer hacker whose release of a huge cache of documents led directly to Manchester City being charged with 115 rule breaches by the Premier Le
www.thetimes.co.uk
The Portuguese computer hacker whose release of a huge cache of documents led directly to Manchester City being charged with 115 rule breaches by the Premier League has received a suspended prison sentence by a court in Lisbon.
City have always denied any wrongdoing and say they have “irrefutable evidence” that will clear them.
Other revelations included that Chelsea paid the families of youth players, which is believed to form part of another Premier League investigation. The leaks also led to publication of apparent ethnic profiling of players by an employee of Paris Saint-Germain, information about the transfer fees and salaries of stars such as Lionel Messi and Neymar, and an accusation of rape against Cristiano Ronaldo, which he has always denied.
During his trial Pinto admitted he was behind the information but argued that he was a whistleblower, not a criminal, and had acted in the public interest for no personal gain.
His lawyers told the court that Pinto has helped authorities in Europe and beyond to tackle crime in the sport, especially murky financial dealings. Pinto was co-operating with authorities in France, Belgium, Switzerland and Malta in their football investigations, the lawyers said.
Pinto told the judges he was “shocked and disgusted” by what he found in his hacking activities.
There is a second case against Pinto, which is yet to go to court, in which Portuguese prosecutors are accusing him of 377 other hacking-related crimes, but that case could take several years to be resolved under the slow-moving Portuguese legal system.
The nine offences do, however, include some of the most serious accusations, including one count of attempted extortion. He was also found guilty of five counts of unauthorised entry into computer systems and three counts of intercepting emails.
The court convicted Pinto of hacking computers belonging to the Doyen Sports investment fund, the Portuguese attorney-general’s office and a Lisbon law firm.
“The freedom to inform does not justify violations of privacy,” the presiding judge, Margarida Alves, told the court where Pinto, who had been released from house arrest while awaiting trial, appeared wearing a surgical mask.
“The court has no doubt . . . It has clearly been established that he was hoping to get money,” Alves said.
Prosecutors alleged that Pinto sought between €500,000 to €1 million from the head of Doyen Sports, Nelio Lucas, to stop publishing compromising documents.
