The director of the Polícia Judiciária confirmed today searches at the Portuguese airline TAP as part of an investigation led by the Central Department of Investigation and Prosecution (DCIAP), with various media outlets suggesting alleged crimes during the airline’s privatization in 2015.
The Barraqueiro Group, owned by Humberto Pedrosa, also confirmed searches at the headquarters of the group’s companies in Lisbon, expressing complete “confidence and calmness” regarding its role in the privatization process.
TAP declined to comment on legal proceedings but stressed that “it always cooperates with authorities in all and any investigations.”
The Attorney General’s Office confirmed in September last year that it received the report from the General Inspectorate of Finance (IGF) about TAP’s privatization in 2015 and forwarded the document to the Central Department of Investigation and Prosecution (DCIAP).
The inquiry was opened in February 2023 following the submission by Fernando Medina and Pedro Nuno Santos, then ministers of Finance and Infrastructure and Housing (PS), respectively.
In mid-October 2022, Pedro Nuno Santos revealed that TAP’s management had requested an audit due to suspicions it was paying more for airplanes than competitors, and the government sent the findings to the Public Ministry.
One of the most discussed topics in the 2023 Parliamentary Inquiry Commission (CPI) on the Political Oversight of TAP Management was the so-called Airbus funds, a deal conducted by the company DGN, led by David Neeleman, with the aircraft manufacturer, which involved canceling a previous lease contract for 12 A350 planes and executing a new contract for the acquisition of 53 aircraft from another range.
In this transaction, Airbus provided capital credits to DGN totaling 226.75 million dollars (195.5 million euros at the current exchange rate), to be channeled to TAP through the Atlantic Gateway.
Throughout the CPI hearings, several deputies questioned witnesses about their knowledge of the operation, considering that TAP’s capitalization in 2015 was done with the company’s own funds.
The Atlantic Gateway consortium, composed of shareholders David Neeleman and Portuguese businessman Humberto Pedrosa, won TAP’s privatization in the final stretch of the PSD/CDS-PP government, an operation partially reverted in 2015 by António Costa’s (PS) administration.
At that time, TAP’s political oversight was the responsibility of the current Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, Miguel Pinto Luz, who was then Secretary of State for Infrastructure, Transport, and Communications.
[News updated at 13:30]
