Rui Pinto, the individual behind the Football Leaks website that contributed to the Premier League investigation into Manchester City’s finances, will continue to receive police protection, as confirmed by Portuguese authorities. Pinto acquired private documents revealing that Manchester City violated league rules from 2009 to 2018. An independent commission found the club guilty of all but one of the 115 charges related to breaches of Premier League financial regulations.
The Ministry of Justice stated that Pinto's witness protection measures, initially set to expire on Saturday, October 10, will remain in place pending a new decision. A previous resolution was annulled because Pinto had not been adequately informed of the reasons for the decision and had not been given the chance to contest it.
Pinto's legal team recently criticized the proceedings, emphasizing the serious threats facing their client, who was assaulted in Lisbon last April. The 37-year-old stated he had to relocate to a secret location due to multiple death threats he received.
Pinto has been under witness protection since 2020 after he agreed to provide Portuguese authorities with access to millions of files he collected prior to his arrest. He was arrested in Hungary in January 2019 and extradited to Portugal, where he spent over a year in pre-trial detention before cooperating with authorities by sharing encrypted data.
In the Portuguese justice system, Pinto has served as both a defendant and a protected witness while also collaborating with investigators from other European nations. During his initial trial, the former history student and self-taught computer expert admitted to hacking computers to obtain millions of documents, which he began publishing online in late 2015. This information was shared with a consortium of European investigative media outlets, revealing questionable practices involving prominent football players, clubs, and agents, leading to tax adjustments and judicial inquiries in various countries.
In September 2023, a Portuguese court sentenced Pinto to a suspended four-year prison term after finding him guilty of attempted extortion, illegal access to data, and breach of correspondence.