Wesley Batista

On October 14, 2020, J&F Investimentos pleaded guilty in federal court in Brooklyn to conspiring to violate the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Its admitted scheme ran from 2005 through 2017. J&F agreed to a $256.5 million criminal penalty; U.S. authorities allowed credit of up to half that amount for qualifying payments under the Brazilian resolution.

The SEC’s October 2020 order found that Wesley and Joesley Batista and their companies paid approximately $150 million in bribes during 2009–2015. The payments helped obtain and maintain $2 billion in BNDES financing used in part for JBS’s 2009 acquisition of Pilgrim’s Pride. The order describes shell companies, accounts held for a Brazilian minister’s benefit, fake invoices, cash and payments routed as official election donations. Some funds passed through JBS accounts containing money transferred from Pilgrim’s Pride. These payments overlap with the conduct addressed in J&F’s criminal case.

The SEC found that Wesley and Joesley Batista concealed the bribery arrangements from Pilgrim’s Pride’s accountants and auditors, knowingly caused inaccurate books and records, and violated Exchange Act Section 13(b)(5) and Rules 13b2-1 and 13b2-2. J&F and JBS also caused Pilgrim’s accounting and internal-control violations. In the settled administrative proceeding, JBS agreed to approximately $26.9 million in disgorgement and interest, and each brother agreed to a $550,000 civil penalty. The resolution required compliance improvements and three years of reporting.

Reuters reported that Federal Police arrested him in São Paulo on September 13, 2017, amid an investigation into suspected use of nonpublic information in market transactions before the public disclosure of J&F executives’ cooperation agreement. His lawyer called the detention unjust and said the Batistas had cooperated with authorities. In October 2023, Brazil’s Securities and Exchange Commission reported that its board voted to absolve Wesley of specified administrative allegations involving JBS share transactions and, in a separate case, currency-related transactions involving JBS, Seara and Eldorado. Those administrative decisions are distinct from the 2017 criminal investigation.

Wesley and Joesley Batista jointly control JBS through J&F entities. Pilgrim’s Pride’s 2024 filing says the brothers joined its board on February 8, 2024, after Wesley Batista Filho resigned from the board. JBS announced on April 27, 2023, that Wesley Batista Filho would become chief executive of JBS USA effective May 1, following Tim Schellpeper’s retirement.

In February 2018, Brazil’s Superior Court of Justice ordered Wesley Batista released after nearly six months in detention, subject to restrictions, according to Bloomberg and Folha reporting.

The Trump–Vance Inaugural Committee’s Federal Election Commission filing lists a $5 million donation received from Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation on January 2, 2025. Donald Trump and J.D. Vance are the named honorees. Pilgrim’s Pride is controlled through JBS, whose ultimate controlling shareholders are Joesley and Wesley Batista.

In May 2017, Reuters reported that Wesley and Joesley Batista testified that they had spent 600 million reais bribing nearly 1,900 politicians. J&F announced a 10.3-billion-real corporate leniency penalty, approximately $3.2 billion at the time, payable over 25 years with inflation adjustments.

In its October 31, 2023 decisions, Brazil’s securities regulator acquitted Wesley and Joesley Batista of specified administrative allegations involving market transactions. Some votes were divided. J&F received a 500,000-real fine for trading JBS shares during a restricted period. These were Brazilian securities proceedings; the U.S. bribery and accounting resolutions were issued separately in 2020.

Related Reports

Sources and Records

AI generated report by Explorvia.com.