J&F Investimentos SA (“J&F), a Brazilian private investment company, plead guilty to FCPA bribery violations in federal court in Brooklyn, New York.  As part of the plea agreement, J&F agreed to pay a fine of $256 million and to cooperate with ongoing investigations of other companies and individuals involved in the bribery schemes. J& F owns numerous companies around the globe, including in the meat and agricultural industries.

Under the plea agreement. J&F will pay only half of the fine, or $128.2 million, in recognition of large fine paid by J&F as part of its resolution with Brazilian prosecutors.

In March 2017, J&F reached an agreement with Brazilian prosecutors to pay $3.2 billion for bribes paid by senior executives to Brazilian government officials and politicians.

In a related action with the Securities and Exchange Commission, J&F, its subsidiary, JBS, the largest meat producer in the world, and J&F’s two principal owners Joesley and Wesley Batista, agreed to pay $27 million in disgorgement and the Batista brothers each agreed to pay $550,000, to resolve SEC charges.

In this Episode, Michael Volkov reviews the J&F settlement for FCPA violations with the Justice Department and the SEC.

The Episode is available here.