Son of Brazilian billionaire founder of Banco Safra sues family

An heir to Lebanese-Brazilian billionaire banker Joseph Safra has sued his mother and two brothers amid a dispute over his late father’s fortune, according to a lawsuit filed on Monday.

Alberto Safra accused his family members of deliberately diluting his stake in a holding of Banco Nacional Safra to try to expel him from the family empire.

In the lawsuit, filed in the New York State Supreme Court, Alberto Safra alleged that his mother, Vicky Safra, and brothers Jacob and David Safra had engaged in acts of corporate misconduct to harm their interests in the company.

“Due to illegal and aggressive acts committed by his brothers, Alberto Safra had no choice but to file a lawsuit with the Supreme Court of New York to protect his rights,” he said in a statement.

Alberto Safra resigned from Banco Safra’s board of directors at the end of 2019 following a dispute with his younger brother David. A year later, his father, Joseph Safra, who was for many years the richest man in Brazil and the richest banker in the world, died at the age of 82.

In 2021, Alberto Safra and the family came close to an agreement on Joseph Safra’s will to avoid litigation over the fortune, valued at US$ 15 billion at the time.

In a statement, the Safra family rejected Alberto’s accusations and said that they “regret the path taken by Alberto, who first acted against his father in life and now acts against his memory.”

The note also says that Alberto left Banco Safra a few months after receiving donations from his father in anticipation of the inheritance, without heeding the appeals made personally by his father and opened a business competing with Banco Safra, “having even harassed and hired several executives from the Grupo .”

The family statement adds that Joseph Safra had asked several executives not to join Alberto and, after several refusals by Alberto to change his plans, he disowned his son.