Brazil's former richest man, Eike Batista, has assets frozen by court

A Rio de Janeiro judge has ordered the bank accounts of former billionaire businessman Eike Batista frozen after authorities charged him with stock market manipulation, reports said.

Federal prosecutors last week filed criminal charges against Batista and embarked on moves to freeze an estimated 1.5 billion reais (HK$5 billion) of assets, including properties, though the move is still pending.

On Saturday, the Rio de Janeiro prosecutor's office had revealed it was charging Batista for deceiving investors over a reported plan to invest US$1 billion in oil company OGX only to renege on putting a share option at a given share price level.

He also stands accused of using privileged information last year to sell off company stock.

The man who was once the world's eighth-richest person - and richest in Brazil - could now face a jail term of up to 13 years.

Judge Flavio Roberto de Souza on Tuesday asked Batista to prepare a defence and banks to reveal the state of his accounts.