Owners of JBS Corporation Had Profits of US$ 49,7 million in 2016

05/25/2017 - 11h40

Brothers Joseley, 45, and Wesley Batista, 47, owners of the JBS Corporation, managed to earn personal profits of R$163 million (US$ 49,7 million) in 2016 alone, which corresponds to 74% of the fine that they will be required to pay as part of the plea-bargain agreement that they closed with the Federal General Prosecutor (PGR).

The amounts are revealed in their personal income tax declarations - that don't include gains of the group as a corporate entity - which were handed over to the PGR as part of their plea-bargain agreement. As part of the agreement, the brothers will be required to pay cumulative fines of R$220 million (US$ 67,1 million) by July 2028, in yearly installments.

Judging by his income tax return, Joesley won't have much difficulty paying his part, which is R$ 110 million (US$ 33,6 million).

In only one year of business activity, he earned profits of R$ 103 million (US$ 31,4 million). Wesley earned R$60 million (US$ 18,3 million) during the same period.

According to their declarations, the brothers had, until 2015 at least, the habit, inexplicable from a financial point of view, of keeping money in their homes.

Joesley was keeping R$ 5 million (US$ 1,52 million) "in cash", while his brother, another R$ 3,5 million (US$ 1,07 million).

During a period of only one year, taking into considering merely the average interest income on a simple savings account, the brothers lost around R$ 612 thousand (US$ 187 thousand).

The scenario changed a little in 2016. During this year, Joesley kept R$ 1 million (US$ 305 thousand) in cash while Wesley kept R$ 100 thousand (US$ 31 thousand).

Based on their income tax declarations, the brothers are in fact billionaires. In a spectacular increase in their assets and holdings between 2015 and 2016, Joesley's personal wealth jumped from R$ 525 million (US$ 160 million) to R$ 1,3 billion (US$ 396 million), while Wesley's went from R$ 410 million (US$ 125 million) to R$ 1,4 billion (US$ 427 million).

It should be pointed out, however, that their liabilities and debts also grew by the same proportion, from R$ 320 million (US$ 97,6 million) to R$ 1,3 billion (US$ 396 million) in Joesley's case, and from R$ 300 million (US$ 91,5 million) to R$ 1,3 billion (US$ 396 million) in Wesley's.

	Zanone Fraissat/Folhapress
	Wesley Batista and Joesley Batista

Their assets and holdings increased because the brothers were engaging in commercial operations that were paying off until at least last December.

The list of assets declared does not include a large and luxurious apartment in New York which, according to the Rede Globo (Globe Network) TV program "Fantastico", is Joesley's residence in the United States. According to the program, the value of the property is estimated at R$ 30 million (US$ 9,15 million).

Folha questioned JBS as to the reason why the property doesn't show up on the brothers' income tax declarations, but had obtained no response by the close of this edition's publication. It is possible that the property had been purchased through one of the declared offshore companies listed in their documents, but JBS didn't confirm whether or not this was the case.

Employing offshore companies for acquiring properties in the United States is one of the methods used by Brazilians to reduce taxes on future transactions.

The brothers currently maintain, or in the past two years have maintained, companies in tax havens like the Bahamas, British Virgin and Cayman Islands.

In a written communication to Folha, JBS failed to respond to questions sent by this reporter. It only responded that "all illicit acts" by the Batista brothers "as stated in the plea bargain testimony, are included in the declaration terms sent to the PGR in minute details, and are documented in the records of the plea-bargain granted by the Federal Supreme Court".

Translated by LLOYD HARDER

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