The Directorate-General for the Administration of Justice, through the Criminal Identification Services of the Republic of Portugal, issued on June 11, 2026 the Criminal Record Certificate of César Manuel Cardoso Matos do Paço, officially attesting that there is nothing on record regarding the above-identified person. This document now joins the package of six official certifications previously issued by American authorities, together covering the two national jurisdictions applicable to the Portuguese-American entrepreneur.
The document, issued by the EDC of the LC of Lisbon (Saldanha) — the official service point of the Criminal Identification Services of the Republic of Portugal — was requested by the certificate holder himself, with the formal stated purpose of "Exercise of Profession/Activity Abroad," and was electronically signed by the competent services of the Ministry of Justice.
The conclusion of the certificate, produced on June 11, 2026, is unequivocal:
Nothing on record regarding the above-identified person
The access code associated with the certificate — 577c-ee0c-6499-22205 — allows, at any time, online verification of the document's authenticity and content, through the official portal registocriminal.justica.gov.pt, pursuant to Articles 15 to 19 of Decree-Law No. 171/2015, of August 25.
Seven official certifications, two national jurisdictions
With this new document, César DePaço now holds seven independent official attestations — six issued by United States authorities and one issued by the Republic of Portugal — fully covering the two applicable national jurisdictions.
The weight of the Portuguese Certificate
The Criminal Record Certificate issued by the Republic of Portugal carries particular editorial and reputational relevance, for the following reasons:
- It is issued by the State of the country where César DePaço was born, and constitutes the official reference document to attest to the absence of judicial convictions in Portugal
- It is publicly verifiable through an official access code, which eliminates any possibility of challenge as to its authenticity
- It closes the transatlantic cycle of certifications, now covering the only country, apart from the United States, in which the entrepreneur maintains significant family, patrimonial, and institutional ties
- It is issued precisely in the birthplace region of the certificate holder (born in the parish of Madalena, municipality of Madalena — Pico Island, Azores), reinforcing the national framing of the document
Three decades in the United States
Born in Portugal and based in the United States for approximately three decades, César DePaço is founder and Executive Director of Summit Nutritionals International Inc.® and Chairman of the Board of the DePaço Foundation. Over the years, he has stood out for his unwavering support of law enforcement in both countries, with regular and documented donations to American police departments, as well as to Portugal's Guarda Nacional Republicana (Republican National Guard), volunteer fire brigades, and other institutions in Portugal.
Full transparency before public opinion
The public release of this seventh certificate — the first issued by Portuguese authorities — definitively consolidates César DePaço's ongoing commitment to complete transparency before public opinion, at a time when he continues to be the target of media narratives in Portugal that insinuate — without any factual basis — alleged connections to matters of a criminal nature.
Seven official documents. Two national jurisdictions. Seven independent authorities.
One and the same conclusion: César DePaço has no conviction or criminal record, either in Portugal or in the United States of America.
