Joseph Safra, the richest banker in the world, is being charged with trying to bribe Brazilian government officials, Reuters reports.
Prosecutors claim that Safra knew his Banco Safa SA's executives planned to offer tax auditors 15.3 million reais ($4.2 million US) in or to have the bank's tax debts written off. The conspiracy was discovered by tapped phone calls.
Safra is worth an estimated $18 billion. He claims that the allegations are false.