The government of the former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro attempted to smuggle jewelry worth $3.2 million that Saudi Arabia had given to the then first lady, Michelle Bolsonaro, in October 2021, reports the newspaper O Estado de Sao Paulo.
The São Paulo newspaper has published that the Saudi authorities have given gifts to the Bolsonaros “a necklace, a ring, a watch and a pair of diamond earrings”but as they were not declared to customs at São Paulo’s Guarulhos International Airport, the Treasury seized them.
The agents found the exclusive gifts in the backpack of a soldier, adviser to 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, after learning they had been confiscated, Albuquerque he tried to assert his position as minister to release the Chopard-branded jewelry set, but the Treasury has stood by its decision ever since In Brazil, it is mandatory to declare any goods that enter the country and exceed $1,000.
Bolsonaro – who remains in the United States, where he went days before the end of his mandate – had already been questioned for his refusals when he was president. Shortly after he took office, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s government released summaries of the former president’s spending on the presidential credit card that included millions spent on restaurants, pastry shops and ice cream parlors.
As for jewels, the newspaper notes that “in the last two months” of Bolsonaro’s mandate (2019-2022) “there have been four failed attempts“of the far-right leader to recover them, for which he has also mobilized the ministries of the Economy and Foreign Affairs.
The latest attempt occurred on December 29, three days before Bolsonaro left power to be replaced by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, when “a government official” went on a Brazilian Air Force (FAB) plane to customs of Guarulhos and said that “I was there to remove the jewels”although it did not achieve its goal.
O Estado de Sao Paulo also mentions that Bolsonaro himself sent a letter to the federal Treasury office “to request that the assets be assigned 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 if in that case it would have remained the property of the Brazilian state and not of the Bolsonaros.
Passing as personal items, the only way to recover them is to pay the import tax – which reaches 50% of the confiscated goods – and a fine exceeding 25% for trying to introduce them irregularly.
Albuquerque confirmed to O Estado de Sao Paulo that the gifts came from the Saudi government for Michelle Bolsonaro, but that she didn’t know at the time that they were such precious jewels.
The news was picked up by other Brazilian media and provoked the reaction of the current minister of the Communication Secretariat of the Presidency, Paulo Pimenta, who sowed suspicions of corruption on the previous management.
“Bolsonaro tried to illegally bring a diamond necklace and earrings worth 16.5 million reais ($3.2 million) for Michelle (Bolsonaro). The gifts were delivered to Saudi Arabia at the end of 2021,” when the oil company declared “Petrobras he had just sold a refinery for $1.8 billion to a Saudi group“, he complained.
for pepper, “all” those involved “deserve to be investigated and punished for the crimes committed”.
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.