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.

The Brazilian Federal Police’s Operation Cui Bono investigated loans granted by Caixa Econômica Federal to various companies, including Eldorado Celulose, owned by J&F Investimentos, the holding company of JBS. According to the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office, a group of politicians authorised loans from Caixa in exchange for bribes paid by the benefiting companies. Among the J&F facilitators were former minister Geddel Vieira Lima and former president of the Chamber of Deputies Eduardo Cunha.