--- description: Joseph Safra, the Brazilian banker said by many to be the world's wealthiest, was charged on Thursday with bribing officials in Brazil title: World's Wealthiest Banker Charged With Corruption in Brazil image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfb1dafe1b65726a4/69888d49f887dc2727e95488/ap_02112103123.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [brazil](/tag/brazil/) ## brazil Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # World's Wealthiest Banker Charged With Corruption in Brazil by [Nash Jenkins](/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 1, 2016 3:15 AM CUT  Joseph Safra at Monte Carlo's courthouse in Monaco on Nov. 21, 2002 Joseph Safra at Monte Carlo's courthouse in Monaco on Nov. 21, 2002Lionel Cironneau—AP by [Nash Jenkins](/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 1, 2016 3:15 AM CUT Joseph Safra, the Brazilian banker said by many to be the world’s wealthiest, was [charged](http://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/mar/31/brazilian-billionaire-joseph-safra-charged-bribery-plot "undefined") Thursday with bribing officials in his home country to reduce his tax bill. Brazilian authorities believe that Safra is linked to a scheme that paid tax officials $4.2 million in exchange for reduced taxes on a major Brazilian bank, Banco Safra, in which the billionaire has a majority stake, the _Guardian_ reported. The alleged payments took place in 2014 — the same year that Safra, who has an estimated net worth of $18.3 billion, bought the iconic London skyscraper known as the Gherkin. Authorities say that Safra did not directly arrange the transactions, instead soliciting an employee to act on his behalf. A spokesperson for Safra Group, the family conglomerate Safra heads, has dismissed the charges as “unfounded.” The charges placed against the billionaire are the latest in a nationwide campaign in Brazil to target and eradicate corruption. The attendant controversies have reached the highest levels of the country’s government: President Dilma Rousseff currently [faces](http://time.com/4275893/brazil-rousseff-pmdb-scandal/ "undefined") calls for her resignation following accusations that she exploited state funds to boost her re-election campaign in 2014. \[[_Guardian_](http://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/mar/31/brazilian-billionaire-joseph-safra-charged-bribery-plot "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4278808/joseph-safra-tax-bribes-charged/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4278808/joseph-safra-tax-bribes-charged/"},"headline":"World's Wealthiest Banker Charged With Corruption in Brazil","datePublished":"2016-04-01T03:15:46.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T16:23:47.079Z","description":"Joseph Safra allegedly bribed officials to get a reduced tax bill","url":"https://time.com/4278808/joseph-safra-tax-bribes-charged/","keywords":["brazil","Dilma Rousseff","corruption","Wealth","london","Banking"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfb1dafe1b65726a4/69888d49f887dc2727e95488/ap_02112103123.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nash Jenkins","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfb1dafe1b65726a4/69888d49f887dc2727e95488/ap_02112103123.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SAFRA","caption":"SAFRA","creditText":"Lionel Cironneau—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/brazil/","name":"brazil"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4278808/joseph-safra-tax-bribes-charged/","name":"World's Wealthiest Banker Charged With Corruption in Brazil"}}]}] ```