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Bloomberg
Avianca Holdings SA shares fell the most in a month after the airline’s offices were searched by Colombian authorities as part of a bribery investigation.
Colombia’s Attorney General’s office is investigating bribery claims related to the company’s former practice of giving free and discounted tickets to officials from Central American governments, according to a spokesperson for the office. Investigators executed a search warrant at the air carrier’s headquarters in Bogota, searching for evidence, including computer files, related to the case.
Avianca shares dipped 3.4% to 2,010 pesos shortly after trading opened in Bogota, the biggest decline intraday since early January.
Avianca and its suppliers have made themselves available to authorities and are collaborating on the investigation, CEO Anko van der Werff said in brief remarks at an event launching a new brand, Avianca Express, which will serve domestic Colombian routes. He declined to elaborate.
The company itself disclosed the practice last year, saying in a regulatory filing that it had opened an internal investigation and hired outside counsel to carry out the probe.