Brazilian oil tycoon Eike Batista arrested on charges of corruption

Eike Batista, a former Brazilian oil and mining magnate, has been transferred to a high security prison in Rio following his arrival from New York on Monday morning.

The 60-year-old, who was Brazil's richest man once had reportedly paid a $16.5m (£13.2m) bribe to former Rio De Janeiro governor Sergio Cabral to secure contracts with the state government. Cabral was arrested in November in a corruption probe named Operation Car Wash.

At least 100 people including building tycoon Marcelo Odebrecht have been convicted for racketeering, money laundering and bribery, in the operation.

Before boarding a plane at New York to turn himself in, Batista told O Globo that he was surrendering to clear his name.

"I'm at the disposal of the courts. As a Brazilian, I am doing my duty," he said. He was first sent to Ary Franco prison in Rio, which is said to be severely crowded and filthy. After taking medical tests and shaving his head, he was later transferred to the much bigger Bangu complex.

Suspects of corruption benefit from a Brazilian law that puts university degree holders in better jail cells than those without a degree. As Batista dropped out of engineering college in Germany and never graduated, he will serve his sentence in an ordinary cell with six other inmates at the Bangu complex.

He was declared a fugitive after Rio police raided his residence last week and found that he had left for New York just hours earlier. He will also be questioned about his alleged involvement in a corruption ring with links to some of the most powerful businessmen and politicians of Rio De Janeiro.