Concern is rising in the ranks of the Altice group following the arrest of one of Patrick Drahi’s right-hand men, reports Les Echos. Armando Pereira was arrested last Thursday in Portugal.
This businessman co-founded Altice in 2001 with Patrick Drahi. He is suspected of fraud, corruption and money laundering.
According to the Portuguese press, he would have fraudulently enriched himself by receiving retrocommissions from certain suppliers of Portugal Telecom, a telecom operator, which became Meo in the meantime, and bought by Patrick Drahi in 2014.
He still validated “all orders over 200 euros”
“The communication around this operation was done in such a way that his guilt immediately settled in people’s minds. Fortunately, the time has now come for the defense to demonstrate that the truth is not so simple, ”said the lawyers for the man in the shadows, now in the shadows. He spent the last weekend in prison.
And even if the current investigation only concerns Portugal, the case worries SFR. The UNSA, CFDT and CFTC unions met with management to discuss the subject. An extraordinary social and economic committee (CSE) must also take place by the beginning of August.
Why such concern? If the Portuguese businessman does not appear in the official organization chart of Altice France, he continued to play a key role until his arrest. He still validated “all orders over 200 euros”, says the CFDT.
Enrichment at the expense of Altice?
Above all, Armando Pereira would have enriched himself at the expense of Altice. The Portuguese justice suspects that Armando Pereira of having granted contracts to suppliers of Altice Portugal in reality held by relatives of the businessman.
Altice Portugal announced in a press release that it had suspended all orders or payments from the service providers targeted by the investigation.