Billionaire Eike Batista was sentenced to 30 years in prison: he was found guilty of bribing ex-Governor of the State of Rio de Janeiro Sergiu Cabral and money laundering.
The verdict was passed by Federal Judge Marcelo Bretas of the 7th Federal Criminal Court of Rio de Janeiro, Veja newspaper reported.
According to the court ruling, Batista transferred $ 16.5 million to the former governor of Rio de Janeiro, through his assistants – Carlos Miranda and Carlos Cordeiro. Another part of the money was laundered in a law firm with which the wife of the ex-head of Rio de Janeiro, Adriana Anselmo, was connected.
“This is a person who, despite the rich financial possibilities, turned to a major fraud. He is a world-famous business man, which is why his criminal business practices are potentially capable of polluting the business environment and reputation of Brazilian businessmen, provoking distrust from investors and entrepreneurs who in the recent past saw Brazil as a good investment option, “wrote the judge, who also ordered the businessman to pay a fine of 53 million reais.
Together with Eyck and Flavio Godinho, the former right-hand man of the businessman, four others were convicted.
According to the Forbes magazine, in 2011 Eike Batista was ranked eighth in the ranking of the richest people in the world. At the same time, his condition was recognized as the greatest in Brazil. The interests of the business empire created by the South American entrepreneur extended to oil production, mining, ports, logistics and the hotel industry. However, in 2013 Batista lost more than 90% of his fortune and was excluded from the Forbes list.
