The Public Prosecutor’s Office named four defendants after conducting searches at TAP on Tuesday morning.
On the Public Prosecutor’s website, Portuguese Justice informs that “following the searches carried out today, four defendants were constituted: two individuals and two legal entities.”
The CNN reports that the two individuals are Humberto Pedrosa and his son, David Pedrosa, owners of the Barraqueiro Group, which was also searched today.
The Public Prosecutor further states that “no arrests were made” following the operation.
Throughout Tuesday, searches were conducted at 25 locations, including companies, law firms, and auditing firms, and no arrests are planned.
What is the reason for the searches?
The searches are related to suspicions of mismanagement, economic participation in a business, passive corruption in the private sector, qualified tax fraud, and qualified Social Security fraud.
The searches carried out on Tuesday are linked to a complaint made to the Public Prosecutor in 2022 regarding the privatization of TAP in 2015.
This concerns “the acquisition by the ATLANTIC GATEWAY consortium from PARPÚBLICA of 61% of TAP, SGPS’s share capital and the subsequent capitalization of that entity with funds from a previously agreed financing between AIRBUS and the DGN CORPORATION (shareholder of ATLANTIC GATEWAY),” explained the Attorney General’s Office.
The investigation also focuses on events that occurred before the direct sale, related to costs borne by TAP, S.A. with entities linked to ATLANTIC GATEWAY and during the period “when TAP, S.A.’s management was in charge of private shareholders, involving the tax situation of individuals and companies linked to that management,” added the Attorney General’s Office.
Barraqueiro Group and Parpública also targeted in searches
Additionally, the Barraqueiro Group, led by Humberto Pedrosa, confirmed searches at the company headquarters related to the 2015 privatization of TAP and expressed total “confidence and calmness” regarding its role in the process.
“The Barraqueiro Group expresses total confidence and calmness in its role in the TAP privatization process, with no reason for concern regarding the ongoing investigations,” the group announced in a statement. The group is led by Humberto Pedrosa, shareholder of Atlantic Gateway alongside David Neeleman, who won the TAP privatization under the PSD/CDS-PP government led by Pedro Passos Coelhos.
The group added that “voluntarily, a dossier with all relevant information on the TAP privatization process, including extensive proof of not having committed any unethical or suspicious acts, had already been submitted to the Public Prosecutor.”
Additionally, Parpública confirmed it was also being searched by the Judicial Police at their premises in connection with the 2015 TAP privatization.
In a statement, the Attorney General’s Office disclosed that searches are underway at 25 locations, including companies, law firms, and accounting firms, with no arrests planned. TAP has already reacted, stay informed on all developments.
Beatriz Vasconcelos with Lusa | 12:05 – 18/11/2025
[Updated at 19:08]
