During the reading of the verdict on 29 October, the panel of judges at São João Novo Court in Porto ruled that the objective and subjective elements of the crime had not been proven, acquitting the businessman and the companies involved in the sale of the vessel.

The case concerns the purchase and sale of the Atlântida, acquired by Mystic Cruises from the Viana do Castelo shipyards for €8.75 million in September 2014. The same vessel was reportedly sold in June 2025 to Internacional Trade Winds (ITW), a company owned by Mário Ferreira and based in Malta, for €11 million. ITW subsequently sold the ship to Norwegian company Hurtigruten for €17 million.

“That was what we expected. The court is always sovereign and decides as it sees fit, but, in fact, this was what we expected. We are pleased that the court recognised that Mário Ferreira did not commit any crime, that he declared his personal income tax at the appropriate time and paid it when it was due,” Mário Ferreira’s lawyer, Rui Patrício, told Lusa news agency at the end of the hearing.

The prosecution

The Public Prosecutor's Office had accused Mário Ferreira of carrying out a “simulated sale” to transfer the profit from the vessel's sale to Malta, claiming that the ship had been sold below its market value. The court reportedly acknowledged that a valuation carried out before the sale had placed the vessel's value at €26.6 million.

“What the court concluded was that the transaction was simulated. That is, so to speak, a corporate matter. This is not a corporate or civil case; it is a criminal case, and there had to be an intention not to pay tax. The court categorically and unanimously found that this intention had not been proven,” he reiterated.

The lawyer stressed that the “technical tax issue concerning personal income tax was the only matter to reach trial following a long and exhaustive investigation, with everything else clearly dismissed by the Public Prosecutor's Office”.

Rui Patrício stressed that “there was no personal income tax fraud, nor even any delay”.

Speaking to journalists, Mário Ferreira also stressed that he had been “completely acquitted”.

“The reality is that I have been completely acquitted. Justice has been served, but the fact that justice has been served does not mean it has taken away the lack of peace of mind I experienced during this time, thanks to all the ink that was printed in newspapers, or many of the accusations that seemed true. Many accusations, even when repeated often, do not become true,” the businessman said, according to Lusa.

Mário Ferreira also wanted to emphasise that, regarding the alleged failure to pay the personal income tax due on his earnings, the court had established the opposite.

“I paid more. I paid personal income tax on money I had never received, and I preferred to pay more rather than have to put up with the Tax Authority,” he stressed.

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