Police Arrest Wesley Batista from JBS; He Says the Plea-Bargain Seems to Be His Only Crime

09/14/2017 - 10h22

Wesley Batista, owner and CEO of the world's largest meat-packing company, JBS, was arrested on Wednesday morning (the 13th) in São Paulo.

The arrest warrant was for preventive detention - with no date set for release - and was issued by judge João Batista Gonçalves, from São Paulo.

An arrest warrant for preventive detention was also requested for Joesley Batista, who has been in custody since Monday (the 11th) in Brasília.

In this case, the Batista brothers are charged with benefiting from insider information in the purchase of US dollars and the sale of shares in JBS, taking advantage of the market impact of their plea-bargain agreement.

Joesley had already turned himself in on Sunday (the 10th) in São Paulo, after Federal Supreme Court (STF) Justice Edson Fachin suspended the effects of his plea-bargain agreement as well as those for Ricardo Saud, an executive from JBS.

If there is no request for a temporary extension or reversal of the preventive detention of Joesley in the Federal District (Brasília), the businessman will likely be transferred to São Paulo where he would serve out this second term of imprisonment.

The actions taken by the Federal Police on Wednesday (the 13th) are part of the second phase of the so-called Achilles Heel operation of the ongoing investigation which started in June to discover whether the Batista brothers had benefitted from insider information regarding their plea-bargain agreement, to make profits in the financial markets by trading to accumulate reserves.

Translated by LLOYD HARDER

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	Nelson Antoine/Folhapress
	Wesley Batista, owner and CEO of JBS, was arrested on Wednesday morning (the 13th) in São Paulo