Brazilian billionaire Safra charged with bribery

Joseph Safra, the billionaire owner of the Gherkin, has been accused of allegedly trying to bribe Brazilian officials for cutting the Corporation Tax Bill.

Safra, the world's richest banker with an estimated $18.3billion fortune, was according to Forbes magazine yesterday accused of corruption in relation to a conspiracy to pay $4.2million in bribes to tax officials, said the Brazilian prosecutors.

The Brazilian authorities said Safra wasn't directly involved with the alleged corruption scheme.

"He [Puga] limited himself to negotiating, interacting with the otherpeople under investigation.But the decisions were taken by [what Puga called] the 'staff', that is, Grupo Safra's majority shareholder and president, Joseph Y Safra. Therefore, Puga was Joseph's agent," the Guardian quoted the prosecutors as saying.

Safra has been charged over the alleged 2014 scheme designed to reduce the tax bill for Banco Safra, Brazil's 10th biggest bank, majority of which he owns.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Safra Group said that the allegations being promoted by a Brazilian prosecutor were unfounded and there has been no improprieties by any of the businesses of The Safra Group.

Safra and his family control the Sao Paulo-based bank as part of an international conglomerate operating in 19 countries.