Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) have addressed a letter to Secretary of the Treasury, Dr. Janet Yellen, requesting a review of acquisitions of U.S. companies by JBS S.A. At issue are court disclosures that major shareholders Joesley and Wesley Batista, executives of J&F Holdings, the parent company of JBS S.A., were involved in national and foreign bribery. JBS S.A. paid a penalty of $280 million to the U.S. Department of Justice to settle foreign bribery charges. The Batista Brothers were recently released from jail in Brazil. It is a matter of record that the Batista brothers distributed more than $150 million to cabinet members, politicians, executives in the Brazil Development Bank, the Brazil Ministry of Agriculture, and many government agencies to obtain sweetheart loans used to purchase U.S. companies in addition to other concessions.
|