Altice Portugal has changed the board of directors of the company. Ana Figueiredo will be chairman of the board of directors and Natasha Marti will become a member of the board of directors.
“Altice Portugal continues to conduct business as usual and will continue to conduct its business with the utmost integrity and in the interests of all ‘stakeholders’, putting its customers and employees first,” it said in a statement.
The changes came after Altice Group became the target of search in about the ongoing investigation directed against individuals and entities not associated with the company.
The company guarantees that it is “cooperating with the Portuguese authorities” in its statement. “Altice Portugal continues to conduct business as usual and will continue to conduct its business with the utmost integrity,” he added.
Altice Portugal director João Zukete da Silva, in charge of the heritage area, asked for the suspension of the position of “chief corporate officer”, which was accepted.
The person responsible for the “corporate” (business) direction of the Meo owner has assets and human resources among his portfolios.
“Operation Picoas”, launched on 13 July, resulted in the arrest of three people, including Altice group co-founder Armando Pereira, with about 90 people being searched at home and other settings, including Altice Portugal’s headquarters in Lisbon and the installations of companies and offices in various parts of the country, according to the Central Directorate of Investigation and Criminal Affairs (DCIAP) of the Ministry of State (MP). Ernani Vas Antunes was the fourth defendant to be arrested, but this only happened on the 15th after he surrendered to the authorities.
It was a joint action of the deputy and the Tax Administration (NA).
Allegedly at stake are “mistakes in the Altice group’s decision-making process in terms of hiring, harmful practices of the group’s companies and competition”, pointing to active and passive private corruption.
The authorities believe that at the fiscal level, the state was deceived by an amount “exceeding 100 million euros.”
On June 2, 2015, Altice completed the purchase of PT Portugal.