Portugal: CEO of TAP is removed after suspected fraud – 07/03/2023 – Market

After scandals involving the payment of compensation of 500 thousand euros (about R$ 2.75 million) to a former executive, the government of Portugal, the largest shareholder of the airline TAP, determined the removal of the company’s CEO, Christine Ourmières-Widener , and the chairman of the board of directors, Manuel Beja.

The duo was fired for just cause and, therefore, will not be entitled to compensation. The other company executives remain in office.

The decision was announced by the Minister of Finance of Portugal, Fernando Medina, at a press conference that also included the participation of the holder of the Infrastructure portfolio, João Galamba, on Monday night (6).

With the dismissal of TAP’s leadership, the ministers said they expected a “turn of the page in the company”, currently the target of a Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry in Parliament motivated precisely by the controversy over the indemnification of the former administrator.

The case was revealed at the end of December in a report by the newspaper Correio da Manhã. The publication revealed that TAP paid compensation of half a million euros to former manager Alexandra Reis who, ten months after leaving the company, became Secretary of State for the Treasury in the socialist government.

Alexandra Reis resigned shortly afterwards, but the political implications of the case continued, increasing pressure on the company’s leadership and on the Executive itself led by Prime Minister António Costa.

The decision to dismiss the CEO and the chairman of the board of directors was taken after a report by the IGF (Inspection General of Finance), released now, concluded that the 500 thousand euros paid to Alexandra Reis were undue. The entity says that the agreement signed between TAP and the executive was void, which “makes the return of unduly paid sums mandatory”.

The government announced that Reis will have to return to TAP 450 thousand euros (approximately R$ 2.47 million) unduly received. The rest of the compensation amount was considered legitimate by the authorities.

The Minister of Finance informed that the IGF report will be sent to the Court of Auditors, to determine possible additional responsibilities.

The fired CEO, Christine Ourmières-Widener, had already complained about the performance of the General Inspectorate of Finance. In documents obtained by the newspaper Expresso, the executive accuses the IGF of “discriminatory behavior” and says that she was the only person not to be personally heard by the entity.

The Frenchwoman took over the post at TAP in June 2021 and was in charge of a major company restructuring project.

The plan, approved by the European Commission in 2021, provides for several cost-cutting measures, such as reducing the fleet, cutting more than 2,000 jobs and reducing wages. The arroxo salariam motivated workers’ demonstrations and even a crew strike.

Current leader of the regional airline SATA Air Açores, Luís Manuel da Silva Rodrigues, 58, will be the company’s next CEO. The executive has already worked at TAP, even dealing with part of the operations in Brazil.