Brazilian Meat Packer With Significant U.S. Holdings Enters Pleas In Bribery Case
By Chris Clayton
DTN Ag Policy Editor
It’s been a busy day in federal courts for JBS SA, its Brazilian owners and its poultry subsidiary, Pilgrim’s Pride, as the meatpacking conglomerate was ordered to pay a combined $393 million in fines in two separate federal court cases.
In the first case, out of the U.S. District Court for Eastern New York, in Brooklyn, J&F Investimentos SA, the major owners of JBS SA and Pilgrim’s Pride, pleaded guilty to violating federal bribery laws — under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act — by bribing officials at Brazilian state-owned banks, and agreed to pay a fine of $256 million.