The former presidency minister Morais Sarmento underlined the defendant’s "professional competence" and his conviction that “although he was sensitive to orders from his superiors and tried to resolve everything", that Manuel Jarmela Palos would never consciously commit any crime.

The Golden Visa case has to do with these kinds of visas for foreigners living in Portugal and the former border agency boss is accused of taking bribes and mismanagement.

The case involves the alleged facilitating of some golden visas in exchange for a consideration that was allegedly divided among a relatively large number of culprits.