SAO PAULO -(Dow Jones)- Luca Luciani, the chief executive of Brazilian mobile telephone company TIM Participacoes S/A (TIMP3.BR, TSU) has resigned due to a scandal over the use of irregular SIM cards. In a brief statement, TIM Brasil, as the company is also known, said that Luciani has resigned all his positions in the company and has left his positions at parent company Telecom Italia SpA (TIT.MI, TI, TIA). The company didn't provide a reason for the resignation. TIM Brasil's share price had slumped as speculation about Luciani's future swirled on Thursday and Friday. The executive is widely credited with having successfully turned around the Brazilian operations over the last two years with a series of innovative payment plans that shook up the Brazilian market. TIM Brasil said that its board of directors will meet soon to appoint Andrea Mangoni, the current chief financial officer of Telecom Italia, as interim chief executive of the Brazilian firm. -By Matthew Cowley, Dow Jones Newswires; +55 11 3544 7082; matthew.cowley@dowjones.com
