Joesley Batista, one of the brothers
who control the company that, in turn, controls JBS SA, is in a slanging match
with Brazil’s president, Michel Temer.
Batista has admitted that he and his
brother bribed officials to obtain loans from a government lending institution
to go on a buying spree of North American meat-packing companies.
It includes XL Foods Ltd. of Alberta
when it fell on hard times because of E. coli 0157:H7 food-poisoning bacteria
in beef.
Joesley Batista told a Brazilian
magazine reporter that Temer asked for money for himself and allied
politicians, and that Temer knew about negotiations to pay bribes and buy the
silence of former House speaker Eduardo Cunha and his operator Lúcio Funaro
when they were already in jail for corruption.
Temer has not only denied all charges
against him, but also filed libel and slander lawsuits against Batista.
