Brothers Wesley and Joesley Batista, majority owners of JBS S.A., profited $100 million by trading dollar-denominated futures

Brothers Wesley and Joesley Batista, majority owners of JBS S.A., profited $100 million by trading dollar-denominated futures days before the approval of their plea bargain deal with prosecutors, Brazilian authorities said Wednesday.In addition to dollar trading, FB Participações, a company controlled by the Batista family, sold 200 million shares of JBS stock when they were trading at a high value, just days before the announcement of their agreement with prosecutors. After the plea bargain deal was made public, and the stock devalued significantly, the brothers bought back the shares at a lower price, the federal prosecutor’s office said.The Batistas' defense lawyer, Pierpaolo Cruz Bottini, said in a statement that the brothers' arrests for insider trading constitute “revenge” by Brazilian public institutions and are “unfair, absurd and unfortunate” considering that Wesley and Joesley have been available to testify and presented all required documents to authorities.A federal court in Brazil's São Paulo state ordered the arrest of the brothers early Wednesday for alleged insider trading. Prosecutors said they requested the arrests “to stop Joesley and Wesley from committing crimes,” alleging that a “criminal organization” formed by the brothers is still “in full operation.”Authorities on Sunday had already detained Joesley Batista, by order of Brazil Supreme Court Judge Edison Fachin, for omitting potential crimes during his plea bargain testimony to prosecutors in April.Detentions related to investigations of insider trading don't have a pre-established term and can be extended as long as they are considered necessary for the investigations to proceed.