Brazilian billionaire brothers Joesley and Wesley Batista control JBS through their holding company, J&F Investimentos.

These corporate criminals have amassed their wealth through bribery, corruption, and widespread price manipulation, targeting American meat industries.

In 2020, they admitted guilt to foreign bribery charges, violating the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and forking out a staggering $256 million in fines.

In their homeland, they were at the heart of the “Operation Carwash” probe, confessing to $186 million in bribes to over 1,900 politicians. Despite serving time, they’ve staged a brazen comeback, now flaunting a net worth of $6 billion.

Meat products are driving grocery bills to record highs. With U.S. cattle supply at its lowest since 1951 and Brazilian imports on the rise, JBS wields unprecedented power over the cost of food at grocery stores and in the fast-food industry.

In the past four years, JBS and its subsidiaries have engaged in widespread price manipulation, amassing over $240 million in judgments and settlements for price-fixing and bid-rigging.

As JBS consolidates the market, independent cattle businesses are swallowed up, reducing competition and enabling price gouging, which spikes supermarket and fast food costs.

The JBS IPO could give the Batista family 90% control of JBS, limiting minority shareholders’ rights and granting them unprecedented control over nearly 20% of the U.S. meat market. U.S. lawmakers from both parties have called for scrutiny of JBS’s IPO plans due to its “long history of misleading corporate investors” and its acquisitions involving “habitual use of criminal practices.”

The IPO plans also aim to skirt securities laws, claiming that as a ‘foreign private issuer,’ JBS is “subject to disclosure obligations different from those of U.S. domestic registrants listed on the NYSE.”

The U.S. is JBS’s largest market and the cornerstone of its global strategy. JBS uses its influence to artificially inflate the cost of meat in the market and line their pockets. American families foot the bill at the checkout counters nationwide.

These actions only scratch the surface of the Batista threat. No federal violation, conviction, or fine will stop their illicit global power grab. American farmers can’t compete as JBS destroys livelihoods and raises prices.

The Biden Administration, SEC, DOJ, and Congress must ACT NOW to block the IPO and protect Americans from JBS and the Batista brothers.

JBS announces delays in its plans to trade shares on the New York Stock Exchange, claiming they will renew pursuits in the second half of 2024.

New York Attorney General Letitia James files a lawsuit against JBS USA for misleading the public about its environmental impact and claims that it will achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 despite documented plans to increase production, as well as targeting consumers with fake sustainability claims to boost sales: “JBS USA’s greenwashing exploits the pocketbooks of everyday Americans and the promise of a healthy planet for future generations.”

A bipartisan group of 15 U.S. senators, including Cory Booker (D-NJ), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Jon Tester (D-MT), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), call on U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler to scrutinize JBS’s IPO efforts, urging the agency to “protect the integrity of U.S. capital markets and the legal rights of U.S. investors by exposing the risks that JBS poses to potential shareholders, including its track record of corruption, human rights abuses, monopolization of the meatpacking market, as well as environmental risks.”

A cross-party group of UK Parliamentarians, led by former Minister for Energy, Climate, and the Environment, Lord Goldsmith, call on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to reject JBS’s IPO for its destruction of the environment: “We implore you to reject the JBS IPO application and send a clear message that the United States stands firm in its commitment to combating climate change.”

U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) holds a hearing on cattle supply chains and deforestation of the Amazon, stating JBS is “nowhere near” its commitment to eliminate deforestation from its supply chain, looking the other way, and greenwashing its products at the expense of American agriculture: “American ranchers are forced to compete in a rigged game against a corporate giant that gets away with flouting the rules.”

The National Advertising Review Board announces its recommendation that JBS discontinue using claims of “Net Zero” plans and commitments for containing misleading claims and evidence of greenwashing.

U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Jamie Raskin (D-MD) write to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to consider yet again initiating suspension and debarment proceedings against JBS: “The farmers, ranchers, and taxpayers of this country must be certain that USDA is willing to do its part to hold corporate criminals accountable.”

Activist group Mighty Earth files a whistleblower complaint with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission alleging that JBS is failing to meet its emissions targets and misleading investors after the company sold $3.2 billion worth of “green bonds” linked to the company’s sustainability goals in 2021.

A federal investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor finds that JBS used cleaning services that used dozens of children between the ages of 13 and 17 to clean its meatpacking facilities.

U.S. Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) writes to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack expressing concerns about the USDA awarding government contracts to JBS despite its criminal and civil cases for bribery, price fixing, and fraud: “While many Americans are struggling to put food on their tables, it is troubling to see taxpayer dollars going to a major agribusiness that has such an egregious record of legal violations.”

JBS agrees to pay over $50 million to settle antitrust litigation for limiting the supply of beef to inflate its prices and boost its profits. “If there were any doubt about the shenanigans Big Packers play to line their pockets at the expense of consumers and independent producers, look no further than JBS’ $52.5 million settlement in price-fixing litigation,” said U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) in a statement.

JBS settles an additional $13 million settlement for its role in an industry-wide scheme to fix pork prices, paid to restaurants and retailers.

U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) call on CFIUS a second time, urging a formal review of the transactions made by JBS, J&F Investimentos, and any other entities owned or controlled by the Batista brothers: “When foreign companies benefit from corrupt practices and spread them to U.S. markets, they jeopardize our economic security, present direct risks to our businesses, and undermine our efforts to fight corruption abroad.”

JBS SA pay $24.5 million to settle part of a proposed class action lawsuit alleging an industrywide price-fixing scheme.

The U.S. Department of Justice orders J&F Investimentos, JBS’s parent company, owned by the Batista Brothers, to pay over $256 million for its guilty plea in a criminal foreign bribery case under the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: “Executives at the very highest levels of the company used U.S. banks and real estate to pay tens of millions of dollars in bribes to corrupt government officials in Brazil.”

Amnesty International uncovers JBS’s illegal cattle grazing, human rights abuses, and displacement of Indigenous peoples in protected Amazon land, while the company’s meatpacking facilities in the U.S. lead to widespread COVID-19 outbreaks and hundreds of preventable deaths due to negligence of CDC guidelines and inhumane working conditions.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) condemns the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s failure to investigate JBS’s funding and urges them to initiate suspension and debarment proceedings with JBS and its subsidiaries: “This relevant corruption and illegal behavior are directly related to the company’s entry to and consolidation of the United States meatpacking sector.”

JBS begins benefitting from taxpayer-funded bailout money as part of former President Trump’s financial relief program for farmers impacted by the trade war with China.

Ultimately, JBS receives $78 million in pork contracts with the U.S. Department of Agriculture – more than any other American pork producer.

In light of JBS’s admitted criminal conduct, U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) urge the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to investigate the company’s acquisition of U.S. entities: “The activities and operations of JBS S.A. have implications for our national security and the security of the American food system.”