RIO DE JANEIRO, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian former billionaire Eike Batista was found guilty of corruption and money laundering and sentenced to 30 years in prison on Tuesday.
The sentence marks a victory for Federal Police in their ongoing anti-corruption investigation, known as Operation Car Wash which began in 2014 after large-scale corruption at both local and federal levels of Brazilian government was uncovered.
The erstwhile business tycoon was found guilty of paying million-dollar bribes to former Rio de Janeiro state governor Sergio Cabral, in exchange for his company being favored for state government contracts. Batista's lawyers said they would appeal the sentence. Batista is currently serving house arrest.
Batista will face further charges relating to Operation Car Wash at a later date, meaning his sentence could be added to.
The former mining and oil magnate was once Brazil's richest man and the eighth richest man in the world, at one time enjoying a fortune of around 34 billion U.S. dollars.
However, most of this was lost after OGX, the oil conglomerate Batista headed, was discovered to have forged reports to make their oil fields appear viable, despite the wells being duds.
Batista's empire crumbled after the value of OGX plummeted following the discovery of the forgeries. The company defaulted payments and filed for bankruptcy protection in 2013.
Ex-governor Sergio Cabral was also found guilty of receiving bribes and sentenced to 22 years and eight months in prison. Added to the sentence he is currently serving, he will have to serve more than 100 years in prison.
