RIO DE JANEIRO, (Reuters) – Eike Batista, once the richest and most outspoken cheerleader for Brazil’s ill-fated commodities bubble, flew back to Rio de Janeiro Monday and was arrested at the airport by federal police over corruption allegations after four days as a fugitive.
Batista, a brash entrepreneur whose meteoric rise and fall made him the poster boy of a decade-long boom in Brazil that turned to bust three years ago, is accused of paying a former Rio state governor millions in bribes. A warrant for his arrest was issued on Thursday.
Batista has not been formally charged. Under Brazilian law, only prosecutors can file charges, after police conclude an investigation.
The 60-year-old businessman, who has sold or forfeited his stakes in the energy, mining and logistics empire known as EBX Group, was once married to a Carnival queen and is the son of a former chief executive officer of mining company Vale SA .
Five years ago, he had a net worth exceeding $30 billion and was considered one of the world’s 10 richest people. On Monday, he had his hair implants shaved off before he was locked in a shared cell in Rio’s notorious Bangu prison, authorities said.
“I am returning to answer to the courts, as is my duty,” Batista told the Globo television network at New York’s JFK airport. “It’s time for me to clear this up.”
