Brazilian President Michel Temer (R) and Minister of Government Secretariat Antonio Imbassahy talk duirng the ceremony for the 152th anniversary of the Riachuelo Naval Battle at the Marine Corps Headquarters in Brasilia, Brazil, on June 9, 2017. This week, the country’s highest election court debated on national television whether bribes and undeclared donations had invalidated Temer’s entire mandate. The narrow not-guilty verdict by the court’s seven judges on Friday saved Temer from immediate disaster but not humiliating embarrassment. EVARISTO SA / AFP
A Brazilian meat tycoon who unleashed a political firestorm with claims of wrongdoing by President Michel Temer in connection with a wide-reaching corruption scandal has now accused the embattled leader of running “the country’s most dangerous criminal organization.”
Joesley Batista, chairman of JBS, caused a major political uproar last month when he handed to authorities an audio recording in which Temer appeared to condone the payment of hush money to a former lawmaker now in prison.
“It’s the country’s largest and most dangerous criminal organization. And the president is its leader,” Batista said in an in-depth interview with the Epoca weekly published Saturday.
“Those who aren’t in prison today are in the Planalto presidential palace. They are very dangerous people. I didn’t have the courage to confront them.”
Batista’s remarks were made in his first interview since he clinched a plea bargain deal with authorities as the nationwide anti-graft operation codenamed “Car Wash” began targeting his business dealings.
Batista agreed to cooperate in exchange for avoiding a conviction.
The business tycoon’s explosive revelations could prove fatal for Temer, after the Supreme Court set in motion corruption and graft probes targeting the president, increasing calls for him to step down.
Among the claims, Batista says tens of millions of dollars were paid to various political parties, including Temer’s center-right PMDB party.
Temer, 76, denies the allegations and has insisted he will remain in office.
“As soon as I met Temer, he started asking me for money to finance his campaigns. He isn’t very modest when it comes to talking about money,” Batista said.
“He saw me as a CEO who could finance his campaigns and organize some monkey business that would lead to graft.”
Batista, who was forced into exile after the scandal broke out, returned to Brazil a week ago and, in a deposition with federal police Friday, repeated his accusations.
The business magnate’s press relations team indicated he had in fact been in China — not in New York, as rumored — “in order to protect his family, which had been repeatedly threatened since he decided to collaborate with the authorities.”
