Portuguese businessman Armando Pereira, co-founder of the Altice group, was placed under house arrest on Monday July 24, 2023, according to his lawyer. He was arrested on July 13 and indicted in connection with a case of corruption and money laundering.
Unsupervised Home Jail
Contrary to what the prosecution had requested, a deposit of 10 million euros, “the judge opted for house arrest”, “without any kind of supervision”explained Manuel Magalhes e Silva to the Portuguese media at the exit of the court.
My client will be able to “go home and sleep with your family”he added.
Armando Pereira, one of the four people indicted in this case, is suspected of 11 corruption and money laundering offences. He refuted through his lawyer the charges brought against him.
A wide sweep
The 71-year-old businessman, who founded Altice with French billionaire Patrick Drahi, was caught in a major dragnet that led investigators to carry out a series of searches, including at Altice’s headquarters in Lisbon.
He was heard by the courts last week as part of “Operation Picoas”, an investigation for corruption and money laundering which implicates several managers or former executives of Altice.
The investigation relates to facts likely to constitute offenses “corruption in the private sector, tax evasion, forgery and use of forgery and money laundering”had indicated the public ministry.
According to the Portuguese media, Armando Pereira is suspected in a case concerning the sale of real estate which belonged to the incumbent operator Portugal Telecom, in the meantime bought by Altice.
Sale of buildings
The investigators are particularly interested in the sale of buildings which would have harmed the Portuguese State and Altice to the tune of several million euros.
Altice said in a statement last week to “continue business as normal and cooperate with authorities” in the ongoing investigation.
2023-07-24 23:09:56
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