The Comptroller General on Wednesday felt that if TAP’s financial manager knew about Alexandra Reis’s compensation, even if unofficially, he would have to avoid reporting false information to the state and the market.
“I can’t point out whether Dr. Gonzalo Pires knew about this compensation, after all, perhaps he knew, as far as I remember, he did not tell us that he knew about this compensation,” began the response to BE MP Mariana Mortagua. Inspector General António Ferreira dos Santos being heard in the parliamentary commission of inquiry into the TAP case.
When the deputy insisted on asking if there was any information, formal or informal, the financial manager should not have avoided sending a “false report” to the shareholder and the market, explaining the unilateral resignation of Alexandra Reis from the post of director, after the change in the airline’s corporate structure, the general the inspector said, “If he knew, I think he should.”
When asked if Gonzalo Pires is required to notify the manager of the dismissal if he knows that compensation has been paid, the inspector general explained that this question was asked to the financial inspector during the audit.
“He told us that he was actually dealing with matters of a more operational nature,” António Ferreira dos Santos said, adding that in the case at hand, Gonçalo Pires did not understand that any communication had to be made.
The Inspector General also stressed that, in the “persuasion” of the IGF, Gonçalo Pires only learned of the agreement with the former administrator “at the very last moment”.
Asked by the blogger about the absence of management contracts concluded with each administrator every three months of tenure, as required by law, the inspector general confirmed that such contracts do not exist, which is “in fact a violation” by the company.
The government announced the dismissal of the airline’s executive president, Christine Urmier-Widener, and chairman of the board of directors, Manuel Beja, on 6 March, following the announcement of the results of an inspection (IGF) that concluded that the departure agreement for Alexandra Reis was invalid and most of the compensation of around half a million euros owed be returned.
The dispute began at the end of December, when Correio da Manhã revealed that the then finance minister had received about €500,000 in compensation for leaving the company’s management two years ahead of schedule.
The process has been harmonized in accordance with the code of commercial companies when TAP falls under the scope of the public manager law.
The case led to a government reshuffle, including the resignation of former infrastructure and housing minister Pedro Nuno Santos.