They denounce that Bolsonaro tried to illegally introduce jewelry worth more than US$3 million into Brazil

They were a gift from the Government of Saudi Arabia to his wife. They were retained by the Treasury, and there are suspicions of bribery. The former president said that “there is no illegality.”

The government of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro attempted to smuggle jewelry valued at $3.2 million that Saudi Arabia had given to then-first lady Michelle Bolsonaro in October 2021, the newspaper O Estado de Sao Paulo reported.

The São Paulo newspaper published that the Saudi authorities gave the Bolsonaros “a necklace, a ring, a watch and a pair of diamond earrings”, but since they were not declared at customs at the Guarulhos international airport, in Sao Paulo, the Treasury seized them.

The agents found the exclusive gifts in the backpack of a soldier, adviser to the then Minister of Mines and Energy, Bento Albuquerque, who was part of the Brazilian entourage that had traveled to the Middle East.

According to O Estado de Sao Paulo, upon learning that they had been confiscated, Albuquerque tried to assert his position as minister to release the set of Chopard brand jewels, but the Treasury maintained its decision, since in Brazil it is mandatory to declare any property that enters the country and exceeds $1,000.

Bolsonaro – who remains in the United States, where he traveled days before the end of his term – was already questioned for his waste when he was president. Shortly after his term began, the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva published the summaries of the ex-president’s expenses with the presidential credit card that included millions spent in restaurants, bakeries and ice cream parlors.

Regarding the jewels, the newspaper pointed out that “in the last two months” of Bolsonaro’s term (2019-2022) “there were four frustrated attempts” by the far-right leader to recover them, for which he even mobilized the Ministries of Economy and Relations Foreign.

Jair Boslonaro with his wife Michelle at an event in August 2022. AFP Photo.

The latest attempt took place on December 29, three days before Bolsonaro left power to be succeeded by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, when “a government official” traveled on a Brazilian Air Force (FAB) plane to Guarulhos customs and said that “he was there to remove the jewelry”, although he did not achieve his objective.

O Estado de Sao Paulo also mentions that Bolsonaro himself sent a letter to the Federal Treasury office “to request that the assets be allocated to the Presidency of the Republic.”

suspicions of corruption

According to the newspaper, the government could have received the jewels if they had been declared an “official gift to the President of the Republic and the First Lady,” even though in that case they would have remained the property of the Brazilian State and not of the Bolsonaros. .

When passing as personal belongings, the only way to recover them is by paying the import tax -which reaches 50% of the confiscated goods- and a fine of more than 25% for trying to introduce them irregularly.

Albuquerque confirmed to O Estado de Sao Paulo that the gifts were from the Saudi government for Michelle Bolsonaro, but that she was unaware at the time that they were such valuable jewels.

The news was raised by other Brazilian media and provoked the reaction of the current minister of the Secretariat of Communication of the Presidency, Paulo Pimenta, who planted suspicions of corruption about the previous management.

“Bolsonaro tried to illegally bring a diamond necklace and earrings worth 16.5 million reais (3.2 million dollars) for Michelle (Bolsonaro). The gifts were delivered in Saudi Arabia at the end of 2021,” when the oil company State “Petrobras had just sold a refinery for 1,800 million dollars to a group from Saudi Arabia,” he denounced.

For Pimenta, “everyone” involved “deserves to be investigated and punished for the crimes committed.”

Bolsonaro’s word

Former President Jair Bolsonaro and members of his team have denied that the jewelry delivered by the Saudi Arabian government has been brought in illegally and pointed out that the gifts are for the personal use of former first lady Michelle Bolsonaro and the former president.

“They accuse me of a gift that I neither asked for nor received. There is no illegality on my part. I never practiced illegality. See my personal corporate card. I have never withdrawn or paid a penny on that card,” Bolsonaro told CNN Brazil.

CNN received letters describing that the material would be sent “for collection” and would have “an appropriate legal destination.”

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