The public prosecutor in Brazil has accused the chair and other senior executives at JBS, the world’s largest meat processor, of financial wrongdoing. The allegations relate to loan transfers close to €18m made between the JBS group and Banco Rural, a Brazilian lending institution.

Shares in JBS plunged by almost 17% during trading in São Paolo on Wednesday on the back of the news breaking, hitting their lowest level in almost 18 months. Bonds issued by JBS also slumped to historic lows, with prices on 10-year bonds back by between 6% and 7%.

JBS, already a major player in the US, South America and Australia, recently gave itself a major foothold in Europe when it acquired Northern Ireland-based poultry processor Moy Park in June 2015. In a €1.3bn buyout, JBS took full control of Moy Park giving it a processing foothold in Europe for the first time.

More recently, reports have surfaced that JBS was close to acquiring Dunbia, the Northern Ireland-based beef processor which is understood to be seeking outside investment or even the sale of the entire company.

Sources in Dunbia have denied these reports that JBS is interested in buying the processor as “absolutely not true” and the Irish Farmers Journal understands that JBS is keener to concentrate on the expansion of poultry meat, and not beef, within Europe.

The accusations made by the Brazilian public prosecutor against JBS senior management come at a time in Brazil when corruption among politicians and businesses is under intense scrutiny. South America’s largest economy was one of the fastest growing economies in the world in recent times, booming at China-like growth rates. However, in the last 12 months, the Brazilian economy has entered a difficult period of recession with the economy projected to shrink by almost 3% in 2016.