From WATTAgNet:
Federal police in Brazil have formally asked prosecutors to file charges against brothers and former JBS leaders Wesley and Joesley Batista related to insider trading allegations.
According to police, the brothers saved as much as BRL138 million (US$44 million) through alleged illegal market dealings in May.
Wesley, the company’s former CEO, and Joesley, the former chairman of JBS, have been mired in a corruption scandal that came to light in June, as the two had been accused and admitted to bribing Brazilian politicians.
Since that time, Joesley has been replaced by Tarek Farahat as chairman, while Wesley has been replaced by the brothers’ father, José Batista Sobrinho, as CEO.
Joesley, on September 10, turned himself into authorities, while Wesley was arrested three days later. While Joesley was no longer in his position of leadership with JBS when he was incarcerated, Wesley was still the company’s CEO. His father, also the founder of the Brazil-based meat and poultry company, succeeded him four days after his arrest.
Joesley has also been accused of trying to take advantage of prosecutors during plea bargaining procedures.
Prior to Wesley’s arrest, there were calls for his removal, but the majority of the members of the board had stated that they did not favor his ouster, and the company posted a material fact on the JBS website that doing so could be damaging to the company’s economic and financial stability.
At the time Farahat was named chairman of JBS, José Batista Sobrinho was unanimously elected vice chairman of the board, replacing Wesley in that capacity.
Brazil police formally accuse JBS Batista brothers of insider trading
SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil's federal police on Thursday formally asked prosecutors to bring charges against brothers Wesley and Joesley Batista, the owners of meatpacker JBS SA , for insider trading. The Batista brothers saved as much as 138 million reais ($44 million) through allegedly illegal market dealings in May, police said.