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Sao Paulo - A Brazilian court froze some $5m in assets of troubled Brazilian tycoon Eike Batista, as part of an investigation into insider trading, his lawyers said Friday.
Once Brazil's richest man, Batista made a huge fortune in oil and gas exploration, but has lost much of it as his EBX Group companies' shares plunged in 2013 and 2014.
The investigation began with a report from the securities commission that "pointed the finger at the practice of 'insider trading,'" his lawyers said in a statement.
On the basis of that report, federal prosecutors asked the courts to block 122m reais ($55m) in Batista's assets in several banks.
The securities commission also alleged other infractions, including failure to inform the markets appropriately that reserves owned by Batista's Oleo and Gas Participacoes SA - an oil and gas group formerly known as OGX - were smaller than expected.
"Mr Batista denies once again the practice of any wrongdoing and will appeal," his lawyers said.
The decline of EBX started in mid-2012, when OGX announced its oil production would be barely 25% of what had been expected.
