Eike Batista in 2017
For years, the name Eike Batista was associated in Brazil with power, fame, and a boatload of cash. Not anymore. Once Brazil’s richest man, the former business mogul is now a convicted felon. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison and fined BRL 53 million for his participation in a vast corruption scheme that operated in the state of Rio de Janeiro. According to authorities, Mr. Batista paid over USD 16 million in kickbacks to Rio’s former governor Sérgio Cabral – who is already in prison and was handed a 22-year sentence in the same case.
Once featured on the Forbes World’s Billionaires List as the seventh-richest man alive, Mr. Batista has been at odds with the Brazilian legal system since January 2017, when he was briefly considered a fugitive and subsequently jailed as a part of Operation Car Wash. He was the first member of the top 10 on Forbes’ richest list to be incarcerated since Colombian drug dealer Pablo Escobar, back in 1991.
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