— OPINION — USDA’s Quarterly Enforcement Report of all its current legal actions will sometimes report that inspection services are being denied because an applicant has been convicted of some minor crime. When USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service doesn’t inspect a meat or poultry operation, those products are not considered human food, and the company is out of business. A sole proprietorship or a couple of partners are most likely to face this sort of policy, which is pretty much seen for dealing with the small fry; those companies owned by thousands of stockholders are treated differently.
Let’s consider the Batista brothers, Joesley and Wesley. Both left the JBS, S.A.
Board of Directors in 2018 after they were associated with the alleged bribery of nearly 2,000 public officials. In May 2017, secretly taped recordings leaked by a leading Brazilian newspaper had Brazil President Michel Temer discussing hush money pay-offs that went to former House Speaker Eduardo Cunha. Temer was under immediate pressure to resign but had enough votes in Congress to escape an impeachment vote.
The Batista brothers did have to leave their JBS board positions and faced charges that included everything from jail time to record fines. It took until last year for them to be acquitted of insider trading and win re-election to the JBS Board. Their return to the Board of Directors and the fact that JBS is seeking a dual listing on the New York Stock Exchange has put the Batista bro.
