Man City whistleblower Rui Pinto facing 'dire consequences' - lawyers
LISBON: Computer hacker Rui Pinto, the man behind the Football Leaks website which helped trigger the Premier League probe into Manchester City’s finances, faces “dire consequences” after having his protected witness status removed, his lawyers said on Friday.
Manchester City whistleblower Rui Pinto is facing dire consequences after his protected witness status was removed, according to his Portuguese lawyers Francisco and Luisa Teixeira da Mota. The special security program he has benefited from since August 2020 will end on October 10, leaving him to find a new home without police protection.
This abrupt change is described as a decision with dire consequences by his legal team. Pinto was assaulted in Lisbon last April, and his revelations implicated powerful figures, leading to numerous ongoing legal proceedings. He has been a protected witness since 2020, granting authorities access to millions of files gathered before his arrest.
Pinto spent over a year in pre-trial detention before agreeing to cooperate with Portuguese authorities and is also cooperating with investigators from other European countries. In 2023, he was handed a suspended four-year sentence for attempted extortion, illegal access to data, and breach of correspondence.
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