SÃO PAULO — Joesley and Wesley Batista, shareholders of J&F Investimentos, the parent company of JBS SA, were acquitted of insider trading. The Brazilian equivalent to the Securities and Exchange Commission, CVM, reached the acquittal verdict on May 29.

Other groups and companies controlled by the Batista brothers have been cleared as well from price manipulation, insider trading, violation of fiduciary duty and abuse of power of control allegations.

According to a release from J&F Investimentos, CVM Director Otto Lobo and Director João Accioly concluded that the defendants could not have foreseen approval of their cooperation agreements nor the following media leaks and market impacts to be guilty of insider trading.

The majority of the CVM board have declared the group companies’ exchange operations legitimate. One board member who is currently reviewing case files has yet to cast her vote.

“The CVM vote has rectified the injustice committed against the group of its controllers, reaffirming the fairness and legitimacy with which J&F, its executives and controlled companies have always operated in the financial market,” J&F Investimentos said.

The Batistas and other JBS executives were charged with corruption in 2018. They were accused of bribing nearly 2,000 politicians, including Brazil’s former president Michel Temer.

Prosecutors also alleged the Batista brothers authorized the sale of millions of JBS shares weeks before submitting evidence of the bribes to officials, knowing the company’s share price would fall after the disclosures.

The Batista brothers spent six months in pretrial detention and were banned from holding management positions at J&F-owned companies.

The brothers returned to their management roles at J&F in 2020 after Brazil’s Superior Court of Justice agreed to their return under unique circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic.