RIO DE JANEIRO — A Brazilian federal court has dropped charges against Jewish billionaire banker Joseph Safra of being part of a conspiracy to pay bribes to Brazilian tax officials.
“Mr. Safra was not investigated, he was not even heard, and even so, he was denounced,” Safra’s lawyer tells reporters this week. “The judges concluded that there was not a minimum of evidence to file a criminal suit.”
Safra, 77, a leading philanthropist in Brazil’s 120,000-strong Jewish community, had denied the charges.
The financier, who is said by Fortune magazine to be the world’s richest banker, was accused of having known of a plan by executives at his banking group in Brazil to pay $4.2 million in bribes to help reduce tax debts amounting to nearly $500 million.
— JTA
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