Shakeup at JBS amid bribery scandal

BRAZIL, May 31, 2017 - Tarek Farahat, global president of marketing and innovation at JBS SA, has been elected chairman of the Brazilian-based meat giant’s board of directors. He replaces Joesley Batista, who resigned in the aftermath of a meat inspection and bribery scandal.

Farahat, who worked for Procter & Gamble for 26 years and was an officer of P&G’s executive board, promised to “work hard to restore trust with the market and protect the more than 235,000 families that are part of JBS.”

The board also ratified the creation of a Governance Committee, which will be led by Farahat and whose main objective will be to implement global best practices in corporate governance and compliance at JBS. Company owners and brothers Joesley and Wesley Batista entered into a plea bargain deal that accused Brazil’s President Michel Temer of endorsing the bribing of a witness in the scandal. The brothers’ testimony, released last week, unleashed a political crisis, alleging that they bribed hundreds of politicians, according to Reuters. Both brothers resigned from their senior posts effective immediately.

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