By Andrei Khalip
LISBON (Reuters) - Ricardo Espirito Santo Salgado, the patriarch of Portugal's beleaguered Espirito Santo banking family and former CEO of Banco Espirito Santo (LS:BES), was detained by law officials on Thursday and will appear before a judge, prosecutors said.
The detention exacerbates the problems faced by the family, which is fighting to maintain its business empire following the discovery of material irregularities at one of its holding companies earlier this year.
The Prosecutor General's office said in a statement that Salgado, 70, had been detained in connection with a long-running investigation into money laundering and tax evasion.
Salgado had been a voluntary witness in the probe and said in January 2013 that he had always paid his taxes and was not a suspect.
Officials would not say on Thursday if the family's recent problems were linked to the case.
Representatives of the Espirito Santo family and the bank could not immediately be reached for comment.
Salgado will appear before a judge of the Central Criminal Custody Court, a court official told Reuters.
The prosecutor's office said last week it had several investigations under way into the situation around the Espirito Santo business empire.
The Espirito Santo family has been under intense scrutiny after a Central Bank-ordered audit earlier this year discovered material irregularities at one of its holding companies, the Luxembourg-registered ESI. ESI and its subholding Rioforte have filed for creditor protection in the past week.
The family lost control of BES after a billion euros capital increase last month, and an independent management team took over the country's largest listed bank by assets weeks later.
The family remains the largest single shareholder in the bank.
(Reporting By Andrei Khalip; Editing by Laura Noonan and Carmel Crimmins)