LISBON - The trial of the whistleblower behind the 'Football Leaks' revelations, a 34-year-old Portuguese man accused of hacking and attempted extortion, concluded in Lisbon on Monday, with the court due to deliver its verdict on April 28.
"I am fully aware of having committed illegalities," defendant Rui Pinto told the judges at the end of the hearing of a trial which opened more than two years ago.
The documents unveiled by "Football Leaks" from the end of 2015 have brought to light dubious football business practices involving famous players and clubs, leading to tax adjustments and the opening of legal proceedings in several European countries.
Pinto was being tried for 89 hacking offences, which he allegedly committed against the investment fund Doyen Sports, Sporting Lisbon, the Portuguese Football Federation, a law firm and magistrates of the General Prosecutor's Office of the Republic.
He was also on trial for attempted extortion.
The prosecution argued that Pinto tried to blackmail Nelio Lucas, the boss of Doyen, which is based in Malta and controlled by a family of Kazakh-Turkish oligarchs, by demanding between 500,000 and one million euros to stop him publishing compromising documents on the Internet.
He then leaked documents in 2015. They were published in Germany's Der Spiegel and other European outlets and sparked criminal investigations in countries including Britain and France.
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