Animals raised by JBS suppliers were dragged across the floor, branded on the face, subjected to electric shocks, and beaten unnecessarily, according to an investigation by Repórter Brasil. These practices violated the company’s own animal welfare policy, as disclosed in its annual report.
As reported by O Globo, the Brazilian Federal Police’s Operation Greenfield investigated Eldorado Celulose, a company owned by J&F Investimentos—the holding company of JBS—for signs of irregularities in the selection of companies to receive investments from pension funds. The suspicion was that those responsible for the investments acted illicitly and paid overvalued amounts for the financed assets. The operation resulted in an agreement in which the group undertook to compensate the pension funds for the losses. Six years later, in 2023, Supreme Federal Court (STF) Justice Dias Toffoli suspended the payment, following a request from J&F to “correct abuses” in the process.
The Brazilian Federal Police launched Operation Sépsis, an offshoot of Operation Car Wash (Operação Lava Jato), which involved a company owned by J&F Investimentos, the holding company that controls JBS. Police carried out search and seizure warrants at the headquarters of Eldorado, the group’s pulp company, and also searched the São Paulo mansion of Joesley Batista, one of the owners of the holding company. It was reported that Eldorado was suspected of having received favorable treatment in loan approvals from the FI-FGTS, a fund managed by Caixa Econômica Federal, Brazil’s state-owned bank.
