Altice boss Patrick Drahi ‘shocked’ by corruption probe at Portuguese operation

French-Israeli telecoms billionaire Patrick Drahi has said he is “shocked” by the ongoing corruption probe at the Portuguese arm of telecom and cable giant Altice.

Patrick Drahi

Altice co-founder Armando Pereira, a long-time business partner of Drahi’s, was placed under house arrest last month as part of an investigation into alleged corruption, tax fraud and money laundering at Altice Portugal, the largest telecoms firm in the country.

The group has put 15 employees on leave in Portugal, France and the US since news of the probe broke last month. Pereira has denied any wrongdoing.

Drahi yesterday confirmed the probe is currently limited to Portugal as he looked to ease investors’ concerns over the business, which controls France’s second-biggest telecom firm SFR and is headquartered in the Netherlands.

The telecoms giant’s combined debt, including its three units of Altice France, Altice International and Altice USA, stands at around US$60bn.

Drahi, who lives between Switzerland, the US and Israel, said in a call to investors: “This has come as a shock and as a huge disappointment to me. If these allegations are true, I feel betrayed and deceived by a small group of individuals, including one of our oldest colleagues.

“It is very unpleasant to see the word corruption next to the name of our group and most of the time in press articles next to my name.”

Altice France operates free-to-air channels BFM TV, RMC Story and RMC Découverte, while Drahi has built up a 25% stake in UK-based BT through Altice.

According to Reuters, Altice estimates the investigation concerns a “very small part” of global purchasing and “low to mid-single digits” of total expenditure that will not affect historical numbers.