J&F Investimentos, the holding company of JBS, agreed to pay a fine of USD 256 million to resolve the U.S. Department of Justice’s investigation into violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). As described in the agreement reached, the company pleaded guilty and admitted to paying millions of dollars in bribes to public officials in Brazil in exchange for financing and other benefits for itself and its subsidiaries, thereby violating U.S. law.

JBS violated the rights of Kaingáng Indigenous workers, according to a Public Civil Action filed by the Labor Prosecutor’s Office (Ministério Público do Trabalho – MPT). The company dismissed 40 Kaingáng individuals at once from the Seara meatpacking plant—a JBS subsidiary—in the city of Seara, Santa Catarina, during the escalation of Covid-19 cases. The mass dismissal included Indigenous workers who were under clinical monitoring, including pregnant women who were already on medical leave.

According to a Reuters report, JBS and its executives have been accused of spreading false and misleading information to investors by the law firms DRRT in the United States and Finkelstein Advogados in Brazil. According to the article, an arbitration case filed on behalf of the company’s shareholders alleged that JBS became the world’s largest meat processor through “bribery and corruption,” claiming damages totaling USD 270 million.

The Brazilian Federal Police’s Operation Baixo Augusta uncovered a bribery scheme involving the release of public funds to JBS. According to the Federal Court of Auditors (Tribunal de Contas da União – TCU), a tax auditor from the Federal Revenue Service (Receita Federal) allegedly approved the release of credits worth R$822 million (approximately US$ 250 million at that time) to J&F Investimentos, the holding company of JBS, in exchange for R$160 million (approximately US$ 49 million at that time) in bribes. The investigation originated from the company’s plea bargain agreement with the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (Ministério Público Federal – MPF), and the tax auditor was sanctioned by the Federal Court of Auditors (Tribunal de Contas da União – TCU) in 2024.

The Brazilian National Congress established a Multi-partisan Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPMI) to investigate the activities of JBS and its holding company, J&F Investimentos. The commission focused on examining the plea bargain agreements signed between the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (Ministério Público Federal – MPF) and company executives, as well as possible irregularities in deals with the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) between 2007 and 2016. The commission’s final vote included a request to indict brothers Joesley and Wesley Batista.

J&F Investimentos, the holding company of JBS, agreed to pay a fine of R$10.3 billion ((around US$ 3.16 billion at that time)) as part of a leniency agreement—the largest ever signed in Brazil—with the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (Ministério Público Federal – MPF). The agreement covers offenses investigated against the holding company in various Federal Police operations, including Carne Fraca, Cui Bono, Greenfield, and Sepsis. In 2023, Supreme Court Justice Dias Toffoli suspended the remaining payments still owed by the company.

Ricardo Saud, former Director of Institutional Relations at J&F Investimentos—the parent company of JBS—admitted that the company “donated bribes” to 1,829 candidates from 28 different political parties, as seen from a video published by Valor Econômico. According to his testimony in a plea bargain as part of Operation Car Wash (Operação Lava Jato), the illicit donations totaled nearly R$600 million (approximately US$ 193 million at the time), mostly in exchange for favors in the public sector. “Apart from these R$10, R$15 million here, the rest is all bribes. Everything has an act of office, everything has a promise, everything has something,” said Saud.

The Federal Police’s Operation Bullish investigated irregularities in transactions carried out by the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) during JBS’s acquisition of the U.S. company Pilgrim’s Pride and the incorporation of the Bertin meatpacking plant, along with Swift Argentina, Swift USA, National Beef, and Smithfield. The investigation, as reported by the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (Ministério Público Federal – MPF), indicated that JBS obtained public funds more easily after hiring consultants linked to former Finance Minister Antonio Palocci, in a scheme that also involved BNDES employees. In December 2019, the MPF requested compensation for damages caused by JBS and BNDES employees, totaling more than 21 billion Brazilian reais (around US$ 6.4 billion at that time). In 2024, however, Brazil’s Federal Court of Auditors (Tribunal de Contas da União – TCU) concluded that there was no evidence of irregularities in the bank’s operations.

JBS and other companies in the sector were investigated for a scheme to bribe meatpacking inspectors, as part of Operation Carne Fraca from the Brazilian Federal Police. The scheme allowed the sale of rotten meat, the falsification of export documents, and deliberate failures in the inspection of meatpacking plants. The accusations against the companies included the use of chemicals to disguise spoiled meat, which led to a series of suspensions of Brazilian meat imports in multiple countries.