Special Report: The billion-dollar fall of the house of Espirito Santo

On June 9, with his 150-year-old Portuguese corporate dynasty close to collapse, patriarch Ricardo Espirito Santo Salgado made a desperate attempt to save it. Salgado signed two letters to Venezuela’s state oil company, which had bought $365 million in bonds from his family’s holding company. The "cartas-conforto" – letters of comfort – were written on the letterhead of Banco Espirito Santo, a large lender controlled by the family. "Banco Espirito Santo guarantees ... it will provide the necessary funds to allow reimbursement at maturity,” said the letters.

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