Bolsonaro confirms having incorporated jewelry into a private collection – 08/03/2023 – Politics

Former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) confirmed to the CNN TV network this Wednesday (8) that a gift package sent by the Saudi Arabian government in 2021 was incorporated into his private collection, but denied illegality.

The package, which includes a watch, pen, cufflinks, a ring and a type of rosary, all from the Swiss diamond brand Chopard, was in the luggage of one of the members of the delegation that had visited the Arab country that year and was not intercepted by the Federal Revenue upon arrival in Brazil, unlike another jewelry package valued at BRL 16.5 million.

To the TV network, without giving further details, Bolsonaro said: “There was no illegality. I followed the law, as I always did.”

Last Saturday (4), at an event with the American right in the US, the former president had not mentioned this other package when explaining the gifts sent by the Saudis. The existence of this second set of jewels and their trip to Bolsonaro’s private collection was revealed by Sheet in a report published on Sunday (5).

“I am now being crucified in Brazil for a gift that I did not receive. I saw in some newspapers maliciously saying that I tried to bring illegal jewelry to Brazil. There is no such thing,” he said at the time.

The seizure of jewelry from Saudi Arabia at the Federal Revenue in Guarulhos (SP) was revealed by the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo last Friday (3). The Federal Police opened an inquiry to investigate the case, and the Revenue released a note stating that the Bolsonaro government did not follow the procedures due at the time for the incorporation of the objects to the public collection. This set seized with the entourage of the then Minister Bento Albuquerque, has an estimated value of R$ 16.5 million.