French prosecutors have opened their own preliminary investigation into potential corruption linked to the telecom group Altice, just months after the detainment of co-founder Armando Pereira and other business associates in Portugal, people familiar with the investigation said.
France’s Parquet National Financier is looking into suspicions of corruption of individuals who don’t hold public office, money laundering and attempts to conceal these offenses, according to one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the investigation isn’t public. The French investigation, which hasn’t been previously reported, was opened in September, the person said.
The early investigation shows that scrutiny is spreading across the telecommunications group controlled by billionaire Patrick Drahi. In Portugal, a three-year investigation into alleged corruption, tax fraud and money laundering culminated last summer in the temporary detention of Pereira, the co-founder and former COO of Altice. He was released on a €10 million ($11 million) bail.
“Armando Pereira wants only one thing: for this investigation to move forward quickly and effectively,” said his lawyer, Jean Tamalet . “He hopes to be heard so that his honor can be washed clean.” Tamalet said he wants Altice contracts with suppliers in France to be audited to see whether Altice was penalized, whether they led to kickbacks and, if so, who benefited from them.
An Altice spokesperson declined to comment. Altice has said that it’s a victim of the alleged wrongdoings in Portugal and that it would collaborate with the judicial authorities.
Read More: Billionaire Drahi cornered by debt mountain, corruption scandal
The French investigation comes at a difficult time for Drahi’s empire as the French billionaire attempts to sell off assets to help pay down an approximately $60 billion debt pile. Nearly every part of the sprawling telecommunications and media empire he has built in the past 30 years is for sale. Altice France, including French carrier SFR, is the Altice group’s largest unit in revenue, with €11.3 billion in 2022.
Bonds issued by Altice France’s holding company fell by 1.6 cents, to 64 cents, on the euro on Friday, according to CBBT pricing compiled by Bloomberg.
Pereira was detained along with two other Portuguese men who allegedly set up businesses that won supply contracts with Altice. Portuguese prosecutors suspect that procurement decisions taken at Altice were rigged in a way that harmed the group’s own companies and competitors.
Those investigators looked at contracts with dozens of Altice’s suppliers in the country, but the probe questioned broader procurement practices, since some Portuguese suppliers also served Altice in France. Altice has suspended the contracts and completed internal audits in every region in which it operates, the company said last year.
Altice had also previously cut ties with its U.S. head of procurement Yossi Benchetrit — Pereira’s son-in-law. Alexandre Fonseca, chairman of Altice USA, has also left the company, along with about 10 other employees, the company said.
Drahi founded Altice with Pereira and another partner in France in 2002 and expanded it through high-profile acquisitions of companies including the French carrier SFR Group SA and Suddenlink Communications and Cablevision Systems Corp. in the U.S. Years of aggressive acquisitions fueled by cheap borrowing have saddled the businesses with more than $60 billion of debt.
Set up in 2014 to tackle complex financial crimes, the Parquet National Financier or PNF has conducted investigations into corporate giants such as Google, McDonald’s Corp., UBS Group AG or Airbus SE and has extracted billions of dollars in fines.