Police Seize Assets of Former Brazilian Billionaire Batista
Police Seize Assets of Former Brazilian Billionaire Batista
RIO DE JANEIRO — Feb 6, 2015, 4:22 PM ET
Associated Press
Federal police went after ex-billionaire Eike Batista on Friday, seizing a Lamborghini and six other cars, additional assets and $32,500 (90,000 reals) in cash from the homes of Brazil's once-richest man.
A Federal Police statement said the assets seized by agents — which included computers, cellphones, watches and jewelry — would help guarantee potential compensation if Batista is convicted on charges of insider trading and market manipulation. A federal judge this week froze more than $1 billion (3 billion reals) worth of financial assets belonging to Batista, his sons, his ex-wife and his girlfriend.
Batista has said he is innocent. His attorney was not immediately available for comment.
At his apex in 2012, Batista was reported to be worth $34.5 billion, and listed at No. 7 on the Forbes billionaires list.
The case against the oil and mining tycoon is part of a new aggressive crackdown on corruption by Brazil's rich and powerful, long accustomed to impunity. The move comes amid an unraveling scandal at the state-run oil company Petrobras over kickbacks to politicians.
More:
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/police-seize-assets-brazilian-billionaire-28781302
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