Millions syphoned from Altice: searches at luxury apartments seized by bailiffs belonged to Armando Pereira

French authorities have seized five luxury apartments that belong to Armando Pereira, one of the founders of the Altice Group.

Also seized were top-of-the-range cars, works of art, and €600,000 in cash.

More than 70 investigators were involved involved in the searches that took place in November.

The searches were accompanied from a distance by procurator Rosário Teixeira and on the ground by tax inspectors in Braga.

Under investigation, according to SIC Notícias, is the alleged siphoning of around €250 million from Altice. The Portuguese newspaper Sol revealed that the five luxury apartments seized belonged to Armando Pereira.

One of the apartments may have been purchased through an offshore and was furnished with several works of art.

All of these seized assets have been valued at around €14 million. The French investigation was opened following the Portuguese Public Ministry investigation ‘Operation Picoas’ which five years ago investigated an alleged corruption scheme which had been injurious to the Portuguese public purse, as well as investigating alleged damages to Altice worth hundreds of millions of euros.

Armando Pereira was detained in July, 2023 but was released on bail for €10 million. Both in Portugal, as in France, Armando Pereira and his ‘right-hand-man’ Hernani Vaz Antunes are suspected of corruption, tax fraud and dishonesty.