The government has already sent the report of the Inspectorate General of Finance (IGF) on TAP to the Ministry of State (MP) after receiving it last week, Infrastructure and Housing Minister Miguel Pinto Luz announced on Tuesday.
“The government received the report last week, approved it and sent it to the Ministry of Justice and the Assembly of the Republic, in accordance with its duties. All the full clarifications will be given,” Miguel Pinto Luz told reporters in Porto on Tuesday, upon arrival for a meeting with the agglomeration.
The minister, who was Secretary of State for Infrastructure, Transport and Communications in the Pedro Passos Coelho (PSD/CDS-PP) government at the time of TAP’s privatisation in 2015, said the process “was one of the most closely scrutinised in Portuguese democracy”.
“There is nothing to hide, everything was transparent, that is why this government is fighting. It is fighting for transparency, for complete openness of processes. This is what we have done, we will wait for the results,” he said.
Miguel Pinto Luz recalled that “there was a parliamentary commission of inquiry on this matter” and noted that “there is no new fact in the IGF report that was not examined” by the commission.
“Now it’s up to the competent authorities. I won’t say anything more about this today,” he said.
The IGF report on TAP said Atlantic Gateway, a consortium of David Neeleman and Humberto Pedrosa, acquired 61% of TAP’s equity, SGPS, “committed to capitalising it through additional capital payments, of which US$226.75 million (MUSD) was made through partner DGN Corporation (DGN) using funds received from Airbus.”
This capitalization amount, he adds, “coincides with the value of the fine (US$226.75 million) that TAP, SA will receive in the event of non-compliance with the agreements for the acquisition of 53 aircraft (A320 and A330), which highlights the possible causal relationship between the acquisition of shares and the capitalization of TAP, SGPS and the contracts signed between TAP, SA and Airbus.”
The IGF proposes to forward the report to the MP, especially in view of the findings regarding the TAP privatisation process and its links to the contracts for the purchase of 53 aircraft from Airbus in 2015, as well as the remuneration of the board of directors.
On the latter topic, the IGF concludes that “the available evidence” allows it to conclude that “the payment of compensation to the administrators in question [Humberto Pedrosa, David Pedrosa e David Neeleman] was carried out by means of a simulated contract for the provision of services (since, apparently, the purpose was not the one for which it was concluded), presenting itself as merely a means to achieve the intended effect.”
According to the report, this procedure “appears irregular in the payment/receipt of compensation to board members, who thereby relieve themselves of liability for IRS taxation and Social Security contributions.”
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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