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- [00:00]
Sarah Hagie
Wondery plus subscribers can listen to scamfluencers.
- [00:03]
Sachi Cole
Early and ad free right now.
- [00:05]
Sarah Hagie
Join Wondery plus in the Wondery app or Apple Podcasts. Sachi Sometimes when we're learning about scams, I cannot believe how big the world is. It's like every country has its own way of doing things. You're not really sure what counts as a scam, but it's always juicy. I know.
- [00:27]
Sachi Cole
I feel like different countries have different ways of scamming. And I feel like we hear from people all over the world about how their country does a scam.
- [00:36]
Sarah Hagie
Yeah. One country I feel always brings a heat when it comes to scams is the beautiful nation of Brazil. And that's not me knocking Brazil. I just think so much stuff happens there in general that we can have our own Brazil spinoff.
- [00:51]
Sachi Cole
Yeah, there are a lot of Brazilian scammers. There's something really interesting happening in the water there.
- [00:57]
Sarah Hagie
Well, today's scammer was one of the most well known figures in Brazil. Like many of our faves, he's a nepo baby with daddy issues who wants to solve his emotional life by getting rich. And when he finally gets taken down, it's part of the biggest corruption scandal to ever hit Brazil. It's November 2009. Brazilian billionaire Ike Bautista is hosting an extravagant dinner at his huge estate. Located about three hours southwest of Rio de Janeiro, the property has a giant mansion with a large balcony overlooking the ocean, private beach, a tennis court, and a pool. Ike is a fit, good looking man in his early 50s, the kind of guy whose graying temples only make him more handsome. His party guests tonight include Brazil's most powerful men and one of the world's most famous women. Madonna.
- [01:50]
Sachi Cole
Party of the century. Anywhere Madonna is party of the century.
- [01:54]
Sarah Hagie
Yeah. And the Queen of Pop is in Brazil to raise money for her new charity project. And this dinner is full of potential donors, including the governor of Rio de Janeiro, Sergio Cabral. Sergio's been around for most of Madonna's trip. He even took her on a tour of one of Brazil's underprivileged neighborhoods. These dinner guests have deep pockets, but Madonna's probably focused on the host because ike is worth $7.5 billion.
- [02:22]
Sachi Cole
That is an incomprehensible amount of money.
- [02:26]
Sarah Hagie
Yet he is truly a real billionaire. And at dinner, Madonna makes her pitch. She's backing a program called Success for Kids, which would bring Kabbalah to low income children in Brazil. In case you lived under a rock in the early 2000s, Kabbalah is a mystical sect of Judaism, and Madonna may be its most famous follower. She tells partygoers that she's already raised for $3 million during this trip to Brazil, and her goal is to raise a total of $10 million by the time she leaves. Immediately, Ike steps up and promises to make up the entire difference. A mind blowing $7 million. Madonna is moved to tears by this generous donation.
- [03:10]
Sachi Cole
I know that $7 million is like very little to someone worth $7 billion, but this is a colossal waste of money.
- [03:19]
Sarah Hagie
Yes, definitely. But here's the thing. Years go by and Ike's big donation fails to materialize. He ends up giving the charity just half a million dollars, about 15% of what he pledged. Ike likes to make big promises, but that doesn't mean he'll keep them. And while stiffing a world famous pop star isn't cool, the promises Ike makes to his investors are far more serious. And the payments he makes to government figures to help his business get an edge aren't exactly legal. When the Brazilian public tires of his rich guy antics, Ike's broken promises will land him smack in the middle of the largest corruption scandal in South American history.
- [04:02]
Sachi Cole
Ever wondered how industry giants like Alo and Skims dominate the online retail space? The answer is simpler than you think. It's Shopify.
- [04:10]
Sarah Hagie
Shopify is the number one checkout tool with cutting edge features. It streamlines your operations to elevate the customer experience.
- [04:17]
Sachi Cole
At the heart of Shopify's power is shop pay. It can boost conversions by up to 50%, meaning less abandoned carts and more cash flowing in.
- [04:25]
Sarah Hagie
With Shopify, your commerce platform will be ready to sell wherever your customers are scrolling or strolling on the web, in your store, in their feed, and everywhere in between.
- [04:35]
Sachi Cole
So upgrade your business and get the same checkout that companies like ALO uses.
- [04:39]
Sarah Hagie
Sign up for your $1 per month trial period at shopify.com scampod all lowercase go to shopify.com scampod to upgrade your selling today.
- [04:51]
Sachi Cole
Shopify.com scampod Weight loss it needs to.
- [04:57]
C
Be fast and sustainable. Noom GLP1 starts at just $149 and ships to your door in 7 days. Take it from Lauren, who lost 22 pounds on Noom.
- [05:05]
Sarah Hagie
If I come off of the GLP1.
- [05:07]
C
It'S not going to automatically make my weight. Yo yo back $149 GLP1s now that's Noom smart. Get started at noom.com Real Noom user compensated to provide their story. Individual results may vary. Not all customers will medically Qualify for prescription medications. Compounded medications are not reviewed by the FDA for safety, efficacy or quality.
- [05:29]
Sarah Hagie
From Wondery. I'm Sarah Hacke.
- [05:31]
Sachi Cole
And I'm Sachi Kol.
- [05:33]
Sarah Hagie
And this is Scamfluencers. Come and give me your attention. I won't ever learn my lesson. Turn my speakers to 11. I feel like a legend. Ike Bautista is one of the biggest names in Brazilian business. And outside of the boardroom, he's got a flamboyant reputation. He's been described as swashbuckling, flashy, a maverick and a playboy. But beneath the surface, Ike is running a scam way more complicated than your run of the mill dirty dealing. It's a two headed serpent of insider trading and bribery. And it's brought him unimaginable profits. That is until a legal super team known as the Nine Horsemen of the Apocalypse come riding into Rio. This is Ike Bautista, Brazil's bribery baron. From the day he's born in 1956, Ike Bautista seems destined to be stuck in his father's shadow. His father, Eleazar Batista, is a rising star in the mining industry. In the 60s, Eliezer serves as the Brazilian Minister of mines and energy. And then he becomes a president of the state's mining operation. But in 1964, when Ike is around seven years old, the Brazilian military overthrows the government in a coup d'etat. Anti communism is on the rise and Eliezer is targeted because he speaks Russian. And when Ike is a young teen, the Batista family leaves Brazil for Europe. A period Ike later calls a quote, friendly exile. It's a turbulent time for Ike's family, and his parents aren't exactly the lovey dovey types. Ike and his father don't have a close relationship, and Ike's mother makes it clear that she expects Ike and his siblings to be just as successful as their father, if not more so. About a decade later, When Ike is 18 years old, the political situation in Brazil calms down enough for his parents to return. But Eike stays in Germany to attend college. His parents give him an allowance, but he wants more. So he becomes a door to door insurance salesman to make extra cash. He's a natural, sipping tea with stay at home moms and tapping into their anxieties to make more sales. Through this job, Ike learns two skills that will carry him throughout his career. How to be charming and how to deal with rejection. And in 1978, when Ike is in his early 20s, he stumbles on a news article about a gold rush in Brazil. He sees this as his Opportunity to jump into the family business. So he drops out of college and returns to Brazil. And his dad is pissed when Ike tells him that he quit school. Eliezer pounds his fist on the table, and he says he deserves a quote. Idiot's diploma.
- [08:20]
Sachi Cole
Excellent insult. Nobody can be mean to you like an ethnic father.
- [08:28]
Sarah Hagie
Truly. I mean, I'm surprised my dad didn't say that to me.
- [08:33]
Sachi Cole
I feel like I've heard that one.
- [08:35]
Sarah Hagie
Well, Ike is still determined to make his mark. He borrows $500,000 from Wealthy Jewelers to start a gold reselling business. He actually makes some money at first, but ends up losing out when his business partners screw him over. Still, Ike isn't deterred. He puts his salesman skills to work and somehow convinces the same jewelers to front him another half million dollars. Of course, it doesn't hurt that his dad's a legend in the Brazilian mining world. Ike's Nepo baby background has served him well. But if he wants to stand on his own and make a name for himself, he'll have to travel to where the mining deals really go down. The heart of the Amazon jungle. A few months later, Ike wipes the sweat off his brow as he steps off a tiny airplane into the Amazon jungle. The air is humid, and the hum of insects is deafening. Ike is 23 years old now and determined to make his gold trading company a success. But he knows he'll have to hustle. He's just landed in a small boom town deep in the Amazon where gold is delivered from nearby mines. Ike acts as a middleman between peasant miners and wealthy buyers in Rio and Sao Paulo. Ike loves his job. He fancies himself a real Indiana Jones type. His sleeves are rolled up, the top few buttons of his shirt are undone, and he wears a silver amulet around his neck.
- [10:04]
Sachi Cole
I hate this. I hate. I hate hearing about it, and I hate visualizing it.
- [10:14]
Sarah Hagie
You know, people don't really wear amulets anymore, either.
- [10:17]
Sachi Cole
Yeah, you're right. There's a real dearth of amulet culture happening.
- [10:21]
Sarah Hagie
And obviously, Ike isn't the most honest broker. He takes advantage of the miners by using old newspapers to show them the price of gold, knowing that the price has gone up since the paper came out. So he buys low from the miners and then sells high, pocketing the profits. He also gives loans to some of the miners and has a low tolerance for those who don't pay him back on time. One day at the mines, Eike confronts a worker who owes him money and calls him a son of a bitch. Then, as Eike walks Away. The miner shoots him in the back. This isn't a fatal shot for Ike, but Eike's bodyguard shoots the miner, killing him.
- [11:00]
Sachi Cole
Damn. The amulet did nothing.
- [11:03]
Sarah Hagie
No, the amulet did not protect him.
- [11:05]
Sachi Cole
What's the point?
- [11:07]
Sarah Hagie
I don't know. I guess it's just a necklace.
- [11:09]
Sachi Cole
God.
- [11:10]
Sarah Hagie
And by 1980, just a year and a half after he dropped out of school, Ike's doing well. Very well. He's already made $6 million. He buys a black Porsche in cash and uses the rest of the profits to invest in a mine of his own. He has a unique vision for this mine. Instead of using people to separate the gold from the gravel, he buys a machine to do it more efficiently. But Eike keeps running into problems. The fancy machine has to be delivered in pieces and reassembled on site, which is tedious and labor intensive. He also underestimates the jungle's brutal climate. And malaria quickly becomes a problem, forcing him to replace old teams of workers as he gets sick. But he powers through. Here he is talking about that period years later with Charlie Rose.
- [11:59]
D
But ultimately the mine was so rich, and I still like to remember it was idiot proof because it survived all my mistakes. And I ended up, when it started to run, I ended up making a million dollars a month.
- [12:15]
Sarah Hagie
Ike loves telling stories of overcoming struggle. In his mind, it adds to his adventurer's mystique. And that's a big part of his sales strategy. People are drawn to his charismatic Persona. And by playing this up, Ike can convince almost anyone to invest in his projects. When he's not on a dangerous adventure in the jungle, Ike conquers another kind of wilderness. PowerPoint. Ike becomes known for using elaborate slideshows to market his company as a new version of the state run mining company his dad ran. And he's determined to outpace it fast. Ike's already a success in the mining world, but he'll need to make a big splash if he wants to get out from under his father's shadow. And he's about to meet the person who will not only scale up his profile, but also his notoriety. It's 1990, about a decade since Ike struck out on his own in the Amazon, and Luma de Oliveira is standing at the finish line of a speedboat race. Luma is a stunning beauty with a big smile and long, flat, dark hurls. And she isn't just some podium princess. Luma is a celebrity in her own right. A few years earlier, when she was 22, she became famous at Brazil's carnival by stealing the show with her dance moves and topless outfit when she was on the COVID of Playboy shortly after the magazine sold out across the country. Today, she's handing a comically large check to the speedboat race winner, Ike Batista. By this point, Ike has become the chairman of a Canadian gold mining company, and he's gotten really good at his rich guy hobby, speedboat racing. He's wealthy, and he's a winner. Luma is definitely interested. Ike and Luma quickly fall in love. There's just one. Ike is newly married, but it's nothing a quick annulment can't solve. Four months later, Ike. Ike and Luma get married. With their first son, Thor, already on the way, this couple is seriously over the top. They both love attention, so naturally, they become tabloid staples. One cover headline reads, luma de Oliveira and Ike Batista, A love that resists Playboy. I mean, couples that want this much attention are just baseline, weird and oh, so predictably. Before long, Ike starts revealing that he isn't the perfect husband Luma once imagined him to be. He starts trying to assert control in weird, manipulative ways. He gives her a diamond ring to persuade her to turn down a nude photo shoot. And he brings home milkshakes and chocolates to throw her off her diet. After a while, Luma's eyes start to wander in the direction of a young man she meets at a photo shoot for a fireman calendar. And after more than a dozen years of marriage and two kids, Ike and Luma divorce in 2004. But they manage to stay friends. He even buys her a mansion right next door to his so their sons can stay close to both of them. Eike's work has given him access to exciting hobbies, big homes, and beautiful women. But he wants to have a hand in all areas of Brazilian business. And he sees major potential and big bucks in one of Brazil's other natural resources, oil. In the early 2000s, Ike makes some big business moves, and they transform him from Playboy hotshot to one of the richest men in the world. Ike expands his empire into new industries. Infotech, energy, shipbuilding, entertainment, and real estate. And each of the new company's names include the letter X. Ike says it stands for multiplication of wealth. Seems like that letter has a strange allure for rich entrepreneurs.
- [16:14]
Sachi Cole
It's just such a sexy letter. They can't. It's, you know, they all. They all want to be the mysterious ex.
- [16:21]
Sarah Hagie
Well, the company that makes the biggest impact in Ike's portfolio is ogx, his oil and gas operation. At the time, the largest player In Brazil's oil business is the government run company Petrobras. But when Ike launches OGX in 2007, it's an exciting alternative. He even poaches dozens of their engineers. And OGX's launch couldn't come at a better time. Oil is reaching a record breaking $145 a barrel. And just a few months later, Petrobras sells blocks of their offshore reserves. And OGX wins some of them by bidding big, in some cases more than 10 times the next highest offer. But Ike is confident. He tells potential investors that OGX can expect to get 5 billion barrels from these reserves, even though he hasn't actually confirmed this number yet. Here he is talking about Brazil's oil potential a few years later at a conference hosted by Google Oil Assets.
- [17:22]
D
There is a Brazil that is happening offshore, which is invisible and underwater and under the seabed. That this is a trillion dollar story that sounds evil.
- [17:32]
Sachi Cole
I don't think anything should have a trillion dollars related to also is a.
- [17:38]
Sarah Hagie
Pretty crazy thing to say when you truly have no idea if that's true.
- [17:42]
Sachi Cole
No, no plan.
- [17:44]
Sarah Hagie
And Ike's famous PowerPoint presentations are filled with these unconfirmed statistics to get investors excited. And all his big talk plants a major seed of fomo. So when OGX is listed on the stock exchange in June 2008, the company raises more than $4 billion in only a few days, a record high in Brazil. One trader says that no one besides Bill Gates has made as much money off PowerPoint. Ike's reputation as a shrewd businessman and the promise of massive earnings have won over investors. Now he has to deliver. So he sets out to make powerful friends who are willing to grease the wheels for his oil company. But for a high price.
- [18:33]
Sachi Cole
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- [18:34]
Sarah Hagie
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Sachi Cole
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Sarah Hagie
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Sachi Cole
Make progress towards a better financial future with Chime. Open your account in two minutes at chime.com scanpod that's chime.com scanpod. Chime feels like progress.
- [19:23]
Sarah Hagie
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- [19:45]
Sachi Cole
Alright, here's the thing. It's kind of gross out, which is why I like to treat myself to a little something and I think you should too without spending a fortune. That's where Quince comes in. With Quince, you can treat yourself to everyday luxury at an affordable price.
- [19:59]
Sarah Hagie
Yeah, a staple that everyone needs in their closet is Quince's iconic Mongolian cashmere sweaters which start at $50 and whatever you're looking for. All Quince Items are priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands.
- [20:12]
Sachi Cole
Sarah, as you know, I own so many Quint's items. I have several really beautiful jersey dresses and a bunch of the button ups and I have a bunch of the skirts. But it's winter and I think I need to get some of these sweaters.
- [20:26]
Sarah Hagie
You know what Sachi, I think you do treat yourself this winter without the luxury price tag. Go to quints.com scampod for 365 day returns plus free shipping on your order.
- [20:38]
Sachi Cole
That's Q-U-I-N-C-E.com scampod to get free shipping and 365 day return returns. Q U-I-N-C E.com scampod.
- [20:51]
Sarah Hagie
I feel like a legend. Around 2010, Bloomberg reporter Alex Quadros arrives at a 37,000 square foot mansion located near the famous Chrysler Redeemer statue in Rio. Alex is a young journalist with dark floppy hair and thick framed glasses. He and a group of other reporters have been invited here by Ike, who owns the house and the 15 acres it sits on. Alex has been following the rise of Ike and other super rich Brazilian tycoons since moving to Brazil earlier this year. So he's not totally surprised when he notices that one wall in the living room is actually a large glass door which is large enough for Ike to drive a car through on the day Alex visits. The car parked in the living room is a $1.3 million silver Mercedes Benz SLR McLaren. Sachi, take a look at this photo.
- [21:51]
Sachi Cole
This is a photo of a car inside of a living room. It looks dumb. As you know, I don't understand cars. This could be any Car. To me, it could be a Toyota.
- [22:01]
Sarah Hagie
Okay, well, that's just wrong. I mean, it looks expensive.
- [22:06]
Sachi Cole
Well, it looks expensive because it's in a house.
- [22:08]
Sarah Hagie
No, it doesn't. Stop pretending you don't have eyes.
- [22:11]
Sachi Cole
I just don't get it.
- [22:12]
Sarah Hagie
Anyway, it's just one car from Ike's collection, which also includes many more BMWs and an armored Toyota pickup, which you know nothing about. He has a 17 person staff that attends to whatever he wants. And Ike has even gone on TV to boast about his favorite purchase, luxurious hair transplants. The Service costs between $3,500 and $35,000, depending on how much real estate you need to cover.
- [22:40]
Sachi Cole
Honestly, that's probably the best use of his money so far.
- [22:43]
Sarah Hagie
Go get your hair. Why not?
- [22:45]
Sachi Cole
Why not?
- [22:45]
Sarah Hagie
Yeah. Alex recognizes that Ike is cultivating a real Persona. He's shaping himself into a Brazilian Steve Jobs. And so far, it's working. Brazilians even start referring to him by first name only, just ike. In 2010, ike joins Twitter and quickly picks up millions of followers. Ike's already achieved his goal of becoming more successful than his father. So he decides to set an even loftier goal. To become the richest man in the world. And he wants to get there within five years. But he'll have to dethrone the current title holder, Carlos Slim, from Mexico. Ike talked about this race to the top with fellow billionaire, former king of junk bonds, and feature subject of a Scamflancers episode, Mike Milken, at an event for Milken's American think tank.
- [23:36]
D
Once you are, you are a racer, or once you go into competing, you probably never get it out of your blood, Right? So I have to compete with Mr. Slim. You know, I don't know if I'm going to pass him on the right or the left side, but I'm going to pass him.
- [23:53]
Sachi Cole
I feel like having a stated goal of wanting to be the richest man in the world is like saying, I want to cause harm so that I can have the thing that I want.
- [24:04]
Sarah Hagie
It's just a stupid goal to have.
- [24:06]
Sachi Cole
Like, boring.
- [24:07]
Sarah Hagie
Okay, richest man in the world. Congrats. Everyone hates you. Ike isn't gonna become the world's richest man by sitting on his laurels. He has to find ways to keep expanding his empire. Luckily, it's a good time for big ideas. In Brazil, the economy is booming. It's the strongest it's been in 25 years. But Brazil's economy has a major bottleneck. An outdated shipping infrastructure. So Ike has been building an enormous container terminal in a port town about 200 miles from Rio. It can accommodate the largest boats in the world and would take the pressure off some of Brazil's smaller ports. Eich started building this port three years ago, but it's getting expensive. Luckily, Ike has tons of allies in the government, especially his close friend Sergio Cabral, the governor of Rio de Janeiro. Sergio's a jolly looking guy with a warm smile. At this point, he's a trusted figure in Brazil. In his tenure as governor, he's improved Rio's transit system and marched in the pride parade. I need you to look at this photo of Ike and Sergio palling around.
- [25:15]
Sachi Cole
This is two men with the whitest, fakest teeth I've ever seen in my life. And it looks like Ike is gonna do a little boop on his friend's nose.
- [25:25]
Sarah Hagie
They look like they're smiling at each other because they see each other as like, wads of cash, you know?
- [25:32]
Sachi Cole
Yeah, they look like they're sharing an awful secret that I don't want to hear about.
- [25:37]
Sarah Hagie
And Ike and Sergio's friendship is very convenient for both of them. Ike gives Sergio millions in cash and shares and access to his private jet in exchange for Sergio helps Ike's port project by giving him tens of millions of dollars in tax credits and fast tracks permits. In Brazil, corruption like this is almost normal, but the odds that you'll go to jail for it are basically zero. One expert estimates that around this time, about 3 to 5% of Brazil's GDP is lost to corruption. And a lot of this has to do with the country's out of control financial inequality. Ike and his fellow Brazilianaires are used to getting special treatment, and they use these perks to maintain their power and increase their wealth. Right now, Ike's the biggest Brazilianaire of all. In March 2012, he hits a major milestone. His net worth reaches $34.5 billion, making him the richest person in Brazil and the seventh richest person in the world. But the tide is about to turn against the brazenly wealthy, and Ike will find himself at the center of the backlash. The same month he's declared one of the wealthiest people in the world, Ike and his family are thrust back into the headlines, and not in a good way. On the night of March 17, 2012, Ike's phone rings. His 20 year old son Thor had been driving home from a steakhouse in his dad's silver McLaren. A man named Wanderson Pereira dos Santos Cruise, who lived in a shack along the highway, was riding his bike on the shoulder of the road. And Thor hit Vonderson killing him instantly. It's a tragedy. And for Ike, a huge scandal. Over the years, public opinion has started to turn against Ike. He promised up Brazil of the future, but things haven't gotten better for regular Brazilians. And now, with Ike's son responsible for the death of a low income citizen, the gap between the Batistas and the average Brazilian has never seemed more enormous. The headlines read, tycoon son battles slum widow and Thor at the wheel. Constant danger.
- [27:51]
Sachi Cole
Yeah, this is like one of those stories that's made for a tabloid that would absolutely get everybody to hate a rich family. It's like, designed for maximum loathing.
- [28:04]
Sarah Hagie
Yeah. It's indefensible. Even if you think being rich is cool.
- [28:07]
Sachi Cole
Yeah, it's super evil.
- [28:09]
Sarah Hagie
Yeah. And soon, Ike gets more bad news. He'd recently hired an independent team to analyze his OGX reserves to finally learn how much oil is really there. And their final report is shocking. Only a few hundred million barrels can be extracted. That's a fraction of the 11 billion barrels IKE had promised investors just a few months ago. It looks like his company is wildly overvalued. So instead of sharing this updated, much less sunny information like he's required to do, Ike just sits on it. Around this time, Ike sees another big opportunity to cash in the upcoming World cup in Brazil. He pitches a big business proposition to his pal, Governor Sergio. The government should lease out the Marcanal, one of the country's biggest stadiums, to private companies. Sergio hires one of Ike's companies to figure out the terms of a potential contract. And Ike's company comes back with a proposal, a lease period that would cover the upcoming World cup and Summer Olympics in Brazil. The winning bidder will have to pay $2 million in rent to the government every year and invest $300 million into the neighborhood around the arena. But they will make an estimated $700 million in profits by hosting games and events at the stadium. Once the idea gets approved, major entertainment and construction companies bid on the rights to lease the stadium. And surprise, a group of companies, including Ike's wins the bid.
- [29:46]
Sachi Cole
What a surprise. How could this be? It's just luck, I'm sure.
- [29:51]
Sarah Hagie
Yeah. And the Brazilian people are outraged at this deal. They see it as the privatization of a public monument. So hundreds of people protest outside the stadium wearing masks of Ike's and Sergio's faces, chanting, ike, you thief. Leave the Americano for the people. And just a couple of months later, the unrest boils over. When bus fares are hiked, more than 100,000 people take to the streets in one of the largest protest movements in the country's history. Around the same time, Ike's son Thor is convicted of manslaughter for killing Vonderson. But he's given a relatively light sentence. He quickly becomes a symbol of inequality in the eyes of the protesters. In mid-2013, the Brazilian stock market is extra shaky. Ike turns to Twitter to boost confidence in the market, especially in ogx, his oil company. He says he'll present a business plan soon. So even as he's pumping up OGX publicly, Ike quietly sells about $60 million in shares, about 2% of the company. Ike also starts selling off some of his possessions. His $26 million private jet, his marina, and a 177 foot party boat named Pink fleet. The Financial times calls it a yard sale, billionaire style.
- [31:14]
Sachi Cole
I would say that it is suspicious to be a billionaire and suddenly be trying to sell everything. That would be cause for concern.
- [31:24]
Sarah Hagie
Yeah. I mean, this should be setting off big alarm bells. And things just keep getting worse for Ike. In October 2013, OGX files for bankruptcy. He's produced only a fraction of what he promised investors in those flashy PowerPoints, and he can't afford to pay back his creditors. The public has had enough. The judicial system and government agencies feel the pressure from the protesters to punish corruption. And a simple gas station in Brasilia will become ground zero for taking it all down. Ike included. In 2014, federal prosecutor Delton Delingle is sitting in his office in Curitiba, a city in southeast Brazil. Dalton is in his early 30s, clean cut, with dark, framed glasses. He went to Harvard law school and came back to Brazil to work as a prosecutor for the government. He's a devout Christian and an optimist who dreams of a better, less corrupt Brazil. Here he is talking about his mission years later during a keynote speech at Acton University in Michigan.
- [32:33]
D
Fighting against corruption is a matter of compassion, of loving our neighbors, and of implementing human rights. That is what drives us.
- [32:45]
Sarah Hagie
Dalton takes notice of a police investigation in Brazil's capital city, Brasilia. They're tracking a black market banker and known money launderer named Alberto Youssef. He's been arrested before, Once after a high speed car chase, which started when smuggled VHS players fell off the back of his truck. This time, the police had been surveying a gas station they suspected was being used to launder money. The dirty money would come in, get recorded as earnings from the gas station, and then go back out into the world, Making it much harder to track. During the surveillance, the police Discover that Alberto is involved in the operation. And in March 2014, the police arrest him. They offer him a plea deal to get him to talk, but he says he can't. He tells his lawyer, if I speak, the republic is going to fail.
- [33:36]
Sachi Cole
If I were to hear this, I would be like, this is either someone who is paranoid and, like, has a completely, like, grandiose sense of what's going on here, or someone who, like, means it.
- [33:50]
Sarah Hagie
Yeah, it would get me interested regardless. And Alberto finally cracks and starts writing down the names of his co criminals. And it quickly becomes clear that he was not kidding. Alberto admits to laundering money for executives at Petrobras, the government owned oil company and Ike's biggest oil industry rival. Dalton can tell that this local corruption case could lead to something much bigger. So he starts a federal investigation called Operation Car Wash. Delton needs to assemble a team of experts to crack this case wide open. So he gathers the country's best prosecutors. Like any good team in a heist movie, each member has a specialty, like money laundering or wire fraud. And as the case moves forward, the press gives the group a nickname. The Nine Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
- [34:43]
Sachi Cole
I find this nickname dorky, but it is interesting that the press and the public look at them like this because they are so hopeful that there's actually gonna be some justice, which is clearly in short supply.
- [34:59]
Sarah Hagie
Yeah, I mean, it's a very intense name, but I think people are kind of seeing it as a moment of reckoning for this type of financial corruption. And by March 2014, the horsemen have enough evidence to arrest Paulo Costa, a former Petrobras executive. And when Paolo finally sits across from six prosecutors in a cramped office, he admits he'd been taking bribes from the country's biggest construction firm for years. In return, he awarded these firms seriously inflated contracts, adding up to hundreds of millions of dollars. And countless Brazilian politicians were also cut in. These bribery arrangements aren't much different than what Sergio and Ike have had with each other for the past few years. This confession cracks the case wide open. Delton sends out a web of police officers to raid the homes of the allegedly cursed corrupt officials. More and more defendants choose to cooperate, Turning in evidence and information about new crimes. The police seize countless sports cars and safes filled with money and jewelry. The hall includes so many valuable paintings that the police allow a museum to exhibit some of them, including a Salvador Dali operation. Car Wash is on track to become the biggest house cleaning in Brazilian government head history. And the country's mega businessmen are caught up in the sweep Too. But Ike will have to face a higher court first. His investors. While this national corruption scandal is erupting around him, Ike has more immediate legal troubles to deal with. In September 2014, a few months after the Horseman's raid, government prosecutors indict him for financial crimes. Suspicious investors urged the prosecutors to look into discrepancies between what Ike had been telling them about OGX's golden future and what was actually happening behind the scenes. The charges against Ike include manipulating the market, misleading investors, false representation, conspiracy, and insider trading. And if he's found guilty, he'll be one of the first people ever punished for financial crimes in Brazil. Ike's criminal trial starts in November, and right away, it's a media circus. Every time he makes a weird face or drinks a cup of coffee, someone takes his picture. And this happens more than you'd expect in a courtroom, because Brazilian courthouses have a waiter who brings around coffee on a silver tray.
- [37:30]
Sachi Cole
Oh, my God, we have to go to Brazil.
- [37:33]
Sarah Hagie
Sounds kind of nice.
- [37:34]
Sachi Cole
Yeah.
- [37:35]
Sarah Hagie
Well, the prosecutors have a solid case against Ike, thanks to three witnesses. A market regulator, a former OGX engineer, and one of Ike's shareholders. The case is pretty straightforward. The prosecutors believe that Ike exaggerated the company's prospects to manipulate the forecasted stock price. They accuse him of only sharing positive information and hiding anything that could hurt the share price. The prosecutors also believe that Ike had known for years that his oil reserves weren't very profitable, but kept this information to himself. Plus, OGX had found so called death gas at its sites early on. An industry term for oil that's very expensive to extract without killing the crew. Ike didn't report that hang up to investors either.
- [38:23]
Sachi Cole
I guess it would have been unpopular to write a memo about the death gas.
- [38:29]
Sarah Hagie
Yeah, I feel like it wouldn't really look good in a PowerPoint.
- [38:32]
Sachi Cole
You know, tough to explain in a deck.
- [38:34]
Sarah Hagie
So things are looking bad for Ike. And it only gets worse when his Twitter account becomes fair game in the courtroom. Prosecutors show that Ike told his followers that the company was going to make a comeback while he was dumping his own stock. Ike defends himself, saying he honestly still believed in the company when he hit send. But the trial's judge, Judge Souza, openly disdains Ike, even complaining to reporters that he's a megalomaniac. To hit him where it hurts. Judge Souza orders officials to confiscate Ike's piano, 16 watches and a that turns out to be fake. Brazil's Sunday news show even runs a special on the operation to collect Ike's valuables Ike's reputation is hurt dramatically by the ongoing trial. And By February of 2015, his net worth sinks to a shocking negative $1 billion.
- [39:29]
Sachi Cole
You know, there's being broke, there's being in debt, and then there's being in debt for $1 billion. That is an incomprehensible hole.
- [39:41]
Sarah Hagie
Yeah, it does sound a lot worse than having zero dollars, right?
- [39:46]
Sachi Cole
Zero. Better than negative billion. Yes.
- [39:49]
Sarah Hagie
But then things take a strange turn. One of Thor's friends lives in the same building as Judge Souza, and one day, he spots Ike's confiscated Porsche Cayenne in the building's g. Not long after, a Brazilian tabloid publishes a photo of Judge Souza driving the car. Sachi, take a look.
- [40:08]
Sachi Cole
Sarah, I'm sorry. This is iconic.
- [40:11]
Sarah Hagie
It's so funny.
- [40:12]
Sachi Cole
Driving. Driving his car around.
- [40:16]
Sarah Hagie
Driving his car around out of your own home, where people will see you.
- [40:21]
Sachi Cole
Clear windows, not even a tinted window. Iconic. I love it.
- [40:26]
Sarah Hagie
Well, when Judge Souza is confronted by a reporter, he says he wanted to protect the Porsche from potential weather damage in the police impound lot. Already we're in Sherjan territory, and it's soon revealed that the judge had taken another one of Ike's cars home and moved Ike's piano into his neighbor's apartment. The last thing a fraud trial needs is a corrupt judge. So in March, Judge Souza is taken off the case, and the trial is put on hold until further notice. Ike may be off the hook for the moment, but Operation Car Wash is getting closer and closer to his doorstep. And his partner in crime is finally about to get nabbed.
- [41:13]
E
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- [42:08]
Sarah Hagie
I feel like a legend. It's November 2016, about a year and a half since Judge Souza was suspended from Ike's case. Federal police have just arrived at Sergio's beachfront apartment in Rio. They're here to arrest him. As they leave the parking garage with Sergio, photographers and cameramen swarm the black suv. By this point, he's no longer the governor of Rio. He resigned back in 2014 after the bus fare protests. But the Brazilian people are still pissed. A group trails the car, yelling and calling him a thief. Over the last two years, many of the construction executives that were exposed in operation car wash have taken plea deals, and two of them shared some incriminating information about Sergio. They say the former governor got kickbacks each time he awarded them contracts. Sergio is accused of siphoning more than 60, 60 million dollars from huge construction projects and accepting bribes for government contracts. These projects include a major highway job just outside of Rio and the refurbishment of the Maracanao stadium, which Ike had been leasing. Prosecutors say the government insisted on a 5% payoff per project, including some projects that were created to improve life in Rio's slums. Sergio made a ton of money off the scheme. One construction company paid him $100,000 per month for over a year. A prosecutor calls it the cartelization of government resources. Sergio used the bribes to buy jewelry and $400 worth of hot dogs for his son's birthday party.
- [43:52]
Sachi Cole
Has anything been more me like just a bunch of hot dogs and jewelry?
- [43:58]
Sarah Hagie
No. I think that's basically like what I would do, too, you know?
- [44:01]
Sachi Cole
Oh, is this just what women want?
- [44:03]
Sarah Hagie
Truly. And when Sergio arrives at Bongu prison the night of his arrest, a couple of dozen people are waiting outside celebrating his takedown. The whole scene is broadcast live on TV in Sergio's mugshot. He wears a bright green shirt and looks tired, with thin gray hair and stubble on his chin. Even with all the evidence against him, Sergio insists he's innocent. Now he must wait while the slow Brazilian judicial system cranks on in a real woe is me move. He spends his time in jail reading a biography of Nelson Mandela. Meanwhile, Sergio's partner in crime, Ike, has been toying with new business ideas while his insider trading trial is on hold. Cold like a new brand of toothpaste and a new version of Viagra. But new ideas aren't going to get Ike out of old problems. And after Sergio's arrest, Ike can feel the feds breathing down his neck. On January 24, 2017, Ike flies to New York. And when police go to arrest him two days later at his home in Brazil, they find the house empty. He is now an international fugitive on Interpol's wanted list. Less than a week after he left Brazil, Eike is on his way back home to face the music. He claims he was never on the run. He was just traveling for some innocent business. And now he's returning to face his charges. While waiting for his flight, he gives a break brief interview to a group of journalists and says that the investigation into Petrobras is a good thing for Brazil and that anyone who committed a crime needs to pay. On the flight home, he takes photos with fellow passengers. He doesn't eat anything the entire trip. He just drinks two glasses of milk.
- [45:59]
Sachi Cole
That might be the worst thing he's ever done.
- [46:01]
Sarah Hagie
It's a weird choice. I didn't know they had milk on planes like that. Have you ever seen anyone do it?
- [46:07]
Sachi Cole
I haven't seen an adult drink two glasses of milk ever. Gross.
- [46:11]
Sarah Hagie
And when Ike lands, he's immediately put into a cop car and followed from above by a news helicopter. He's being taken to Ari Franco, one of the country's worst prisons. It houses 2,000 prisoners, more than double its capacity. But Ike isn't there long. He's then moved to Bangu prison, where his old pal Sergio is being held. Bongo is more comfortable with less gang control and a smaller population, but it is still prison. On his first day, they give Ike a jail uniform, jeans, and a white T shirt. And by this point, his hair has been shaved off. A big l for his expensive hair plugs.
- [46:53]
Sachi Cole
Oh, he looks bad. What a fall from grace.
- [46:56]
Sarah Hagie
There's also something really strange about prisons in Brazil. The inmates are separated into two groups. Those who graduated college and those who didn't. Inmates with a university education get private cells away from the general population until the end of their trial. And those without don't.
- [47:16]
Sachi Cole
Oh, that is deranged. That is some hunger games shit. That's crazy. What are you trying to create? What is the purpose?
- [47:25]
Sarah Hagie
Well, all I know is that I'm sharing a cell.
- [47:29]
Sachi Cole
Yeah, I'm not, damn it.
- [47:33]
Sarah Hagie
And you know who else is sharing a cell? Ike. Because he dropped out of college in Germany, Ike isn't granted any special treatment. According to Ike, his cell is only 12 square meters, and he shares it with two other people. One of the inmates in his wing allegedly murdered 200 people, and Ike only gets one hour of sunlight on weekdays and none on the weekend. A few weeks after his arrest, Ike learns he's been charged with giving Sergio $6.5 million in bribes. This is a whole separate set of charges from his insider trading trial, which is still on hold. After the judge went on a joyride in Ike's car. The bribes between Ike and Sergio are easily traced to a few projects, including the leasing of Maracanau stadium and the construction of Ike's four billion dollar port. A couple of months later, Ike is released from prison, but he's under house arrest until his trial begins. He's banned from running his businesses and forced to give up his passport. More than a year later, in July 2018, Ike is convicted of bribery and sentenced to 30 years in prison. His love of the spotlight plays a big role in the length of his sentence. The judge believes that Ike's public profile made his crimes much more destructive. He'd ruined the reputation of not only Brazilian businessmen, but also the entire country, which was finally being seen as a good place to invest. The judge wants to make an example of him. Ike's allowed to stay under house arrest while the conviction goes through the appeals process, which could take a long time. And in the months that follow, Ike becomes pretty active on YouTube. And get this, he's sharing financial advice and giving his takes on the day's Business News. In September 2019, Ike's other trial for money laundering and insider trading is finally picked back up. Prosecutors said they found $203 million in new illicit transactions between 2010 and 2013, and he's sentenced to serve an additional eight years. Ike's roller coaster ride has reached some of the highest highs, and now he's at the lowest low. He's past worrying about saving his reputation. Now he's worried about regaining his freedom. Operation Car Wash ended up becoming the biggest scandal in Brazilian history. Almost one third of Brazil's sitting congresspeople were investigated. It cost the country billions of dollars and stalled public projects, putting tens of thousands of people out of work. The average Brazilian felt duped. The promise of economic stability and the optimism that came with it were all based on a lie. While Operation Car Wash cleaned out a lot of corruption within the Brazilian government, it also paved the way for the extreme right to fill the void. The nationalist presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro came to power in 2019 on an anti corruption platform.
- [50:44]
Sachi Cole
That's so depressing. That's unspeakably depressing, actually.
- [50:49]
Sarah Hagie
Yeah. And in 2020, Ike negotiated a plea deal in his Car Wash related case. He agreed to confess to his money laundering and corruption crimes, name his accomplices, pay almost $150 million in fines, and serve four years in prison. And in January 2024, OSX, Ike's only remaining publicly traded company, filed for Bankruptcy. But don't worry. Ike hasn't lost his love of attention. He regularly makes media appearances where he's called Operation Car Wash. Quote, medieval and like the Inquisition. He still says he believes his charges will be overturned. Meanwhile, Ike's son Thor is trying his hand at business. He told GQ Brazil that he had invented an energy Dr. That intensifies your orgasms. He lovingly credits Ike for inspiring him to become an entrepreneur. Let's just hope he's learned from his father's mistakes. Sachi. You know, it's really crazy what guys will do to stick it to their dad. You know.
- [51:59]
Sachi Cole
This is a story about three generations of guys who are going to torture all of us because no kiss from Debbie.
- [52:05]
Sarah Hagie
Yeah. You know, it's. It's also really crazy because, again, with many scammers, he could have just been normal, rich, quiet guy who's doing a little bit of illegal activity and, you know, not being a part of one of the biggest corruption scandals in your country's history.
- [52:25]
Sachi Cole
If he was content with just $1 billion, he could have gotten away with it for his entire life. But he insisted on having the most billions of anyone to ever have a billion.
- [52:37]
Sarah Hagie
I. You know what it is? I don't know why someone wants to be known while also being rich. Like, you're not gonna be the rich guy everyone likes forever. Like, show me that guy that never falls from grace that everyone's kind of, like, happy with. And they're like, yeah, I'm so glad you're rich forever. No one hates you.
- [52:59]
Sachi Cole
I mean, I think a lot of the men in this story want to be viewed as problem solvers and problem solvers who then become very wealthy off of it because, you know, wealth is power. But they actually didn't have any solutions. They didn't have any plan. All of what they were saying was bullshit.
- [53:18]
Sarah Hagie
Yeah.
- [53:19]
Sachi Cole
Did you learn anything new about how to scam from our friends from Brazil?
- [53:25]
Sarah Hagie
Yeah, you know, it's one of those stories where you're like, the stock market isn't real. I mean, it's just one of those. You're just kind of like, none of this was real. This is all fake money.
- [53:39]
Sachi Cole
Yeah.
- [53:39]
Sarah Hagie
Moved around.
- [53:40]
Sachi Cole
Yeah.
- [53:41]
Sarah Hagie
With fake promises.
- [53:42]
Sachi Cole
The lesson is, it's all fake. You may as well steal it.
- [53:47]
Sarah Hagie
Yeah, I think that's exactly it.
- [53:49]
Sachi Cole
I feel like Thor is well on his way to his own Scamflancers episode. Apparently he has figured out a drink that's going to make all of us come.
- [53:57]
Sarah Hagie
Ew. Shut up. I hate you so much.
- [54:04]
Sachi Cole
I can't think of a better thing for the son of a megalomaniac billionaire who is later dethroned to sell than a drink that makes people come. That's like the best possible thing he could do. Anything else would be demonstrably more evil.
- [54:22]
Sarah Hagie
This is a gas station product. This is what you see behind the gas station guy. Like, that's not real. It's not a real thing.
- [54:29]
Sachi Cole
It's the guy at the bodega who's like, do you want your dick to get bigger? Drink this spider venom.
- [54:35]
Sarah Hagie
Like, you can't make that chic. I'm sorry.
- [54:37]
Sachi Cole
If Gwyneth Paltrow sold it, I bet a bunch of women in Calabasas would buy it.
- [54:43]
Sarah Hagie
Yeah.
- [54:46]
Sachi Cole
If you like Scamplancers, you can listen to every episode early and ad free right now by joining Wondery and the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Prime members can listen ad free on Amazon Music. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey@wondry.com survey.
- [55:08]
Sarah Hagie
This is Ike Batista, Brazil's bribery baron. I'm Sarah Hagie.
- [55:13]
Sachi Cole
And I'm Sachi Cole. If you have a tip for us on a story that you think we should cover, please email us at Scamplins. We use many sources in our research. A few that were particularly helpful were Wealth, Power, Decadence and Hope in an American country by Alex Cuadros. How Brazil's Nine Horsemen Cracked a Bribery Scandal by Will Connors at the Wall Street Journal and a Brazilian Magnate Points to Himself for Inspiration by Alexei Barrio Nuevo in the New York Times.
- [55:42]
Sarah Hagie
Jessica Ford wrote this episode. Additional writing by us Sachi Cole and Sarah Hagie. Olivia Briley and Eric Thurm are our story editors. Fact checking by Lexi Peary. Sound design by Sam Ada. Additional audio assistance provided by Augustine Lim. Our music supervisor is Scott Velasquez for Freeson Sync. Our managing producer is Desi Blaylock. Our senior managing producer is Callum Plews. Janine Cornello and Stephanie Jens are our development producers. Our associate producer is Charlotte Miller. Our producer is Julie McGruder. Our senior producers are Sarah Enny and Ginny Blume. Our executive producers are Jenny Lauer, Beckman, Marshall Louie and Erin O'Flaherty for Wondery.
- [56:40]
F
A few miles from the glass spires of midtown Atlanta lies the south river forest. In 2021 and 2022, the woods became a home to activists from all over the country who gathered to stop the nearby construction of a massive new police training facility nicknamed Cop city.
- [57:00]
E
At approximately 9:00 this morning, as law enforcement was moving through various sectors of the property, an individual without warning shot a Georgia State Patrol trooper.
- [57:10]
F
This is We Came to the Forest, a story about resistance.
- [57:14]
Sarah Hagie
The abolitionist mission isn't done until every prison is empty and shut down.
- [57:19]
F
Love and fellowship.
- [57:20]
D
It was probably the happiest I've ever.
- [57:22]
F
Been in my life, and the lengths will go to protect the things we hold closest to our hearts. Follow We Came to the Forest on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes of We Came to the Forest early and ad free right now by joining Wondery.