LISBON (Reuters) – Telecoms group Altice co-founder Armando Pereira, questioned by a judge on Thursday over alleged corruption at the group’s Portuguese subsidiary, denied any wrongdoing, his lawyer Manuel Magalhaes e Silva said.
Armando Pereira was detained last week as part of an investigation into alleged corruption, tax evasion and money laundering within Altice Portugal.
Police said the investigation was focused on suspicion of rigging the group’s process for obtaining contracts.
The investigation has already forced the co-chief executive of Altice International, Alexandre Fonseca, also president of the Portuguese and American subsidiaries, to suspend all his functions on Monday, the group having also suspended several other executives, employees and legal representatives in Portugal and elsewhere.
Armando Pereira is currently being questioned by a judge and prosecutors, according to Manuel Magalhaes e Silva. Asked about the innocence of his client, the lawyer replied that it was “complete for all the facts alleged against him in the procedure”.
The suspicions of the prosecutors concerning Armando Pereira “are not true, it is a set of presumptions”, said Manuel Magalhaes e Silva.
Armando Pereira “answered quite clearly and convincingly to the various questions asked”, he said, adding that he hoped the leader would be released.
According to local media, the investigation relates to the sale of a number of buildings in Lisbon when Alexandre Fonseca was CEO of Altice Portugal, between November 2017 and April 2022, which would have deprived the company of hundreds of millions of euros.
On Thursday, the Altice Group said the Portuguese subsidiary’s chief executive Ana Figueiredo would take over as chairman, replacing Alexandre Fonseca with immediate effect, and that Altice Portugal was providing “all the cooperation requested by the Portuguese authorities”.
(Report Sergio Goncalves, French version Corentin Chapron, edited by Kate Entringer)
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