Billionaire Franco-Israeli cable mogul Patrick Drahi made his first public comments Monday since a scandal broke surrounding his Altice International procurement operations in Portugal.
The Altice International chief said he felt “shocked” and “betrayed” by news of the corruption probe, which has seen his top lieutenant, Altice co-founder Armando Pereira, placed under house arrest by Portuguese officials. (Pereira has denied any wrongdoing.)
In all, 15 Altice employees have been embroiled in the scandal, the investigation for which has spread out beyond PT Portugal to Altice France and Altice USA. All of those employees have been placed on indefinite leave.
Last week, during its second-quarter earnings call, Altice USA said it has launched its own internal investigation into its procurement activities.
“This has come as a shock and as a huge disappointment to me,” Drahi said in a call Monday, which was covered by Reuters.
“If these allegations are true, I feel betrayed and deceived by a small group of individuals, including one of our oldest colleagues,” Drahi said. “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.
“We acted immediately,” he added.
