Brazil requests Interpol warrant for former billionaire, who may have flown to U.S. on German passport

Record ID: 165912

  • Title: Brazil requests Interpol warrant for former billionaire, who may have flown to U.S. on German passport
  • Date: 26th January 2017
  • Summary: RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL (FILE) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) BATISTA AT AN EVENT
  • Embargoed: 9th February 2017 18:18
  • Keywords: Eike Batista operation carwash Interpol Operation Car wash
  • Location: RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL
  • City: RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL
  • Country: Brazil
  • Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Crime
  • Reuters ID: LVA00660PYTS3
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDIT CONTAINS VIDEO THAT WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
    Brazilian federal police said on Thursday (January 26) they had asked Interpol to issue an international arrest warrant for former billionaire Eike Batista as part of a sweeping political bribery investigation.
    Police sought to arrest Batista at his Rio de Janeiro home at dawn on Thursday, but said at a news conference that he appeared to have flown to New York on a German passport on Tuesday night.
    A police spokesperson told Reuters that Batista and other people allegedly took part in a $100 million money laundering ring being investigated in a larger probe known as "Operation Car Wash." The searches took place in Rio de Janeiro, the police said in a statement.
    "The focus of the investigation was financial, looking at money laundering as well as active and passive corruption. The most significant finding was the confirmation of overseas resources worth over 100 million dollars," Federal Police official, Tacio Muzzi, told reporters on Thursday.
    According to news channel GloboNews, police raided Batista's home in an upscale neighbourhood of Rio but failed to find him there. GloboNews cited unnamed lawyers representing Batista saying he was travelling and planned to turn himself in on his return.
    "Interpol is already working to verify the scope of police cooperation. The second point is that there is information he may have left the country with the German passport," said Muzzi.
    Efforts to contact Batista's lawyers for comment were unsuccessful. According to the police statement, a "great deal" of the $100 million laundered by the scheme has already been repatriated into Brazil.
    Once Brazil's richest man, with a fortune calculated at about $35 billion less than five years ago, Batista has been hard hit by the crash in Brazil's decade-long commodities boom, which led to the collapse of his Grupo EBX - a conglomerate of mining, energy, shipbuilding and logistics companies.
    The "Car Wash" scandal has centred around the cozy relationship between members of the former Workers Party administration and some of Brazil's most prominent businessmen over contracts at Petroleo Brasileiro SA and other state firms.
    The investigation has undermined investors' trust in Brazil's companies just as its longest and harshest recession bites deep.
    The collapse of Batista's Grupo EBX has also been the target of fraud investigations. A ruling by securities industry watchdog CVM in November, 2015, barred him from taking on any management or auditing duties for at least five years.
    More than 100 people, many from companies built up as national champions, and including Brazil's most powerful building tycoon, Marcelo Bahia Odebrecht, have been convicted of corruption linked to kickback schemes, racketeering and money-laundering.
    Last year, Batista testified before Judge Sergio Moro, the lead judge in the Car Wash process. His testimony led to the temporary imprisonment of a former finance minister, Guido Mantega, who allegedly coerced the tycoon into making illegal contributions to Workers Party campaigns.
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