JBS shareholder still negotiating fine with Brazil prosecutors
THE controlling shareholder of meatpacker JBS SA will continue talks with Brazilian prosecutors after a deadline passed to accept an 11.2 billion real (US$3.44 billion) fine in ongoing negotiations for a leniency deal, a person familiar with the discussions said.
The fine, which prosecutors sought to finalise by midnight on Friday, is part of a settlement with J&F Investimentos, as the investment vehicle controlled by brothers Wesley and Joesley Batista is known, for admittedly paying bribes to Brazilian politicians.
The bribes form part of a massive corruption scandal that this week, when a recording by Joesley Batista implicated Brazilian President Michel Temer and two of his predecessors, rattled Brazilian financial markets and led many to press for Temer’s resignation or impeachment. Temer has denied wrongdoing.
JBS, the world’s largest meatpacker, is one of several major Brazilian corporations that has admitted to making illegal payments to politicians and government officials in exchange for favors and contracts with state enterprises.
A series of investigations over the past three years has led to dozens of indictments and sentencing of political and corporate chieftains and revealed a damning culture of kickbacks and other graft at the highest levels of Brazilian government and business.