In his first speech since the outbreak of the case, Mr. Drahi also assured that this scandal would have "no impact" on the finances and forecasts of its branch Altice International, whose results were presented Monday.

"If these allegations are true, I feel betrayed and deceived by a small group of individuals, including one of our oldest colleagues," he said, referring to Pereira.

Armando Pereira, 71, Patrick Drahi's right-hand man, was arrested in Lisbon on 13 July and indicted as part of an investigation for corruption and money laundering.

"A few individuals, especially in the procurement branch, carefully concealed their actions, from me, their colleagues and the entire group," Drahi said. "These people have, if these allegations are true, taken advantage of their position at the expense of the group, and therefore at my personal expense as well," he said.

He also acknowledged that "Altice entities outside Portugal have done business with some of the suppliers identified by the Portuguese authorities".

"We take this matter very seriously," he said, assuring that he was acting "quickly to understand the truth and protect the group from any harm in case the allegations are founded".

"In Portugal, we are cooperating fully with the authorities. We are conducting extensive international investigations in a number of countries, in collaboration with specialist law firms, in order to conduct an independent review," he added.

The group has already started cleaning up. After the arrest of Mr. Pereira, Altice suspended Tatiana Agova-Bregou, the executive director of content, acquisitions and partnerships, implicated in wiretapping of the Portuguese justice.

In addition, Alexandre Fonseca, co-CEO of Altice, former executive chairman of Altice Portugal and appointed in March at the head of the American subsidiary, communicated himself on LinkedIn his withdrawal.

Yossi Benchetrit, head of purchasing in the United States and son-in-law of Armando Pereira, has been "fired", announced the new head of Altice USA, Dennis Mathew.

This case comes at a time when the group is weakened by its overall debt of nearly 60 billion euros.

© 2023 AFP