Brothers Wesley and Joesley Batista returned to the JBS board of directors, which now has 11 members. They had been removed from their positions at the company since 2017, after the plea bargain involving former President of the Republic Michel Temer. The entrepreneurs are partners at J&F, holding which has control of the largest producer of animal protein in the world.
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In October 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) acquitted the businessmen of three charges of insider tradingwhich is the use of privileged information in market negotiations.
The CVM was investigating whether the Batistas had traded dollars and shares in a J&F company to profit from the repercussions of Joesley’s leak in Operation Lava Jato.
Since the episode involving the former chief executive, the brothers have been away from the company’s highest positions. In February, however, they took up positions on the board of directors of Pilgrim’s Pride, the North American arm of JBS that exports chicken meat.
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Official announcement
An annual general meeting scheduled for April 26 will officially announce the return of Joesley and Wesley to the board. The meeting will present the financial statements for the year ending December 31, 2024, according to the company’s information to the CVM.
According to the Folha de S.Pauloamong JBS’ justifications for nominating the brothers, is that “they have not suffered, in the last five years, any criminal conviction or administrative proceeding from the CVM, the Central Bank of Brazil or the Private Insurance Superintendence, or any conviction carried forward in judged, at the judicial or administrative level”.
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In 2020, the company pleaded guilty, in court, “to violating the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act”. It then signed a leniency agreement with the Federal Public Ministry, within the scope of Operation Greenfield.
But last December, Minister Dias Toffoli, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), freed the company J&F, holding of Joesley and Wesley, to pay the fine of R$10 billion.
+ Read the special report for “Lá não tem Toffoli”, by Myllena Valença, issue 209 of Revista Oeste
