Brazil's fallen tycoon Eike Batista on trial for insider trading
Landmark case opens against former billionaire Eike Batista in a style worthy of a film set
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 19 November, 2014, 11:02pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 20 November, 2014, 1:13am
Bloomberg in Rio de Janeiro
Eike Batista in the Rio court.
Former billionaire Eike Batista's public persona makes his insider-trading trial a landmark case in Brazil, according to the judge hearing the case.
"Eike is a symbolic figure," Judge Flavio Roberto de Souza told reporters in Rio de Janeiro after the trial's first hearing on Tuesday.
"I always say he was the poster boy of his own companies and with a megalomaniac dream of becoming the world's richest man. To see a person with that type of attitude sitting on the accused bench is really a historic moment."
Batista was the world's eighth-richest person in early 2012 before his empire of commodities and logistics companies collapsed.
The first session in a trial for alleged insider trading and market manipulation against Batista ended in a downtown Rio court after hearing three witnesses called by prosecutors. Souza set December 10 and December 17 for new hearings, when Batista may testify.
The opening day resembled a film set, with the judge, a Buddhist who meditates twice a day for about 40 minutes, competing with Batista's legal team for the attention of several film crews present in the room.
Just as his ascent to the top rung of the global rich list brought 58-year-old Batista legendary status, so has his sudden descent into the biggest corporate failure in South America.
The entrepreneur's every move was scrutinised. When he rose from his seat and walked out of the court midway through the proceedings, a stampede ensued as a group of camera-toting reporters joined in pursuit.
"I'm only going to the toilet," Batista, who was wearing a light-grey suit and purple tie, told those following him.
The hearing, which lasted almost three hours, heard testimony from Fernando Soares Vieira of Brazilian market regulator CVM, minority investor Aurelio Valporto and Mauro Coutinho Fernandes, an engineer who worked for Batista's oil company.
Batista, who had 230 million reais (HK$687 million) in Brazilian bank accounts frozen after the judiciary gained access to his tax and banking records, sat in the front row, either in silence or chatting with his advisers, including lawyer Sergio Bermudes.
"It's going very well for Eike," Ary Bergher, one of Batista's lawyers, said outside the court. "There is still a long way to go and a lot of proceedings that need to be analysed."
Bermudes said the evidence presented by prosecutors in the trial was "inconsistent" and reiterated that Batista did not manipulate markets. The entrepreneur's lawyers have repeatedly said Batista is innocent.
During the hearing, Batista's defence team urged the judge to hear the case behind closed doors, saying the presence of the media and others in the auditorium-like court hurt the ex-billionaire's defence, which was "asphyxiated and strangled", according to Bergher. The judge rejected the request.
