José Sócrates has since been released, first from prison and then from house arrest.
The latest decision by the Lisbon appeal court “in no way interferes” with his current situation, a court official told Lusa on Wednesday.
The ruling now made upholds a decision by the investigating magistrate in the case, Carlos Alexandre, that Sócrates should remain in prison after he turned down the opportunity to be transferred to house arrest but wearing an electronic tag.
On 16 October he was released, though he remains barred from leaving the country or contacting other suspects in the case.
Sócrates was first detained in November last year, at Lisbon airport, on his arrival from Paris, where he had been living.
On the same day, Lisbon’s appeal court also rejected an appeal by Ricardo Salgado, the former chairman of Banco Espírito Santo, against the house arrest to which he has been subject as the result of a decision taken in July by Portugal’s central criminal investigation court.
The information handed to Lusa News Agency by an official, who added that the court had examined arguments from both the investigating magistrates in the case, once again Carlos Alexandre, and the defendant.
No appeal is possible to the Supreme Court, the official said, but only to the Constitutional Court, if the defendant believes that constitutional principles have been violated.
On 24 July Salgado was detained for questioning by the criminal court as part of the investigation into alleged fraud, money laundering, and other white-collar crimes at the bank, which collapsed last year. On 25 July, the court ordered that he remain under house arrest.
On 21 October, the attorney-general’s office said that Salgado could be released from house arrest if he paid €3 million in bail, but that he would still be barred from all contact with other suspects in the case, and from travelling abroad.
Salgado was questioned in a separate case relating to alleged money laundering, in July last year, but was freed on bail of €3 million. The attorney-general’s office had last month announced that this amount had been lowered to €1.5 million.