Portugal’s flagship airline TAP has pledged to cooperate with authorities after PJ police carried out searches at the airline’s offices in connection with a controversial half-million-euro compensation package paid to former executive Alexandra Reis.
In a brief statement, the company said: “TAP does not comment on judicial proceedings and always collaborates with authorities in all investigations.”
The Public Prosecutor’s Office confirmed on Tuesday that the raids were linked to the indemnity paid when Reis resigned as a member of TAP’s board and executive committee in 2022. The operation also targeted a Lisbon law firm and included the seizure of computer equipment from the General Secretariat of the Portuguese Government.
Investigators are probing suspected crimes including mismanagement, corruption, abuse of power, and unlawful economic participation in business.
The case first erupted in 2022 when it emerged that Reis had received around €500,000 on leaving TAP “by mutual agreement.” The controversy intensified when she was later appointed Secretary of State for the Treasury in the government of Finance Minister Fernando Medina, prompting political uproar and the creation of a parliamentary inquiry.
TAP has insisted that the exit package was part of a contractual termination agreement and maintains it will continue to assist authorities as the investigation unfolds.
