Todd,
I ran a Google on the exact phrase and came up with a number of hits, many of them in Portuguese legislation, and referring to the Tribunal de Contas. The Portuguese is commonly accepted. I include here one of the hits, and two passages from the document that refer to the "respectiva gerência". It is obvious from the full context that it refers to the "management team that was in charge when the infraction was committed." In today's English, it would be the management "on whose watch" the crime occurred, apparently even if committed by outsiders, as you say is the case. If the exact time of infraction cannot be determined, fines and penalties are assessed from the date that management team/board ceased functions.



http://intranet.uminho.pt/Arquivo/Legislacao/ContabilidadePu...

Artigo 52.º Da prestação de contas
1 – As contas serão prestadas por anos económicos e elaboradas pelos responsáveis da respectiva gerência ou, se
estes tiverem cessado funções, por aqueles que Ihes sucederem, sem prejuízo do dever de recíproca colaboração.



3 – A reposição inclui os juros de mora sobre os respectivos montantes, aos quais se aplica o regime das dívidas
fiscais, contados desde a data da infracção, ou, não sendo possível determiná-la, desde o último dia da respectiva
gerência.

The long and the short of it is that this confirms the ideas of the other colleagues who already posted.