The Public Ministry is looking into losses at the airline. Sérgio Rocha de Ávila, former vice-president of the Regional Government of the Azores, is being investigated for harmful management and economic participation in business.
It reveals that the socialist deputy Sérgio Rocha de Ávila is one of the targets of the Public Ministry for business at SATA during the time he was in the regional government of the Azores.
The investigation focuses on the airline’s losses of almost 200 million euros. The former President of the company, Luís Parreirão, is also under investigation.
The Azorean airline SATA ended 2019 with a accumulated loss of R$260 million. According to SIC sources, it became an example of mismanagement.
The A330 plane, purchased in 2016, was considered a strategic error due to internal studies ignored by SATA managementwhich caused the company’s losses to worsen.
The plane was only active for 4 months, as operating costs were very high. The Court of Auditors criticized his copra’s decision, accusing those responsible of poor management.
The Public Ministry raises doubts about possible political motivations and parallel interests in the decision to purchase this planeand talks about a possible proximity between the SATA administration and the regional government of the Azores.
So far, the investigation continues without formal charges, and none of the suspects have yet been charged.
However, searches have already been carried out by the Civil Police — but they have not yet taken place at Sérgio Ávila’s house, as the Court has not authorized it. The judge who handled the appeal is married to a colleague of the politician.
