Bolsonaro’s allies profited at least R$ 1 million from jewelry – 08/11/2023 – Politics

Allies of Jair Bolsonaro (PL) earned at least BRL 1 million from the negotiation of Saudi jewelry given to the former president as a gift. The information is from UOL.

This Friday (11), the Federal Police are carrying out search and seizure warrants aimed at Bolsonaro’s surroundings in the case of jewelry. Among the targets is Army reserve general Mauro Lourena Cid, father of former aide-de-camp Mauro Cid.

In addition to him, the PF searches include Frederick Wassef, Bolsonaro’s lawyer, and Osmar Crivelatti, an Army lieutenant who also acted as an assistant to orders from the Presidency.

The name of this Friday’s PF operation, “Luke 12:2”, is an allusion to verse 12:2, which says: “There is nothing hidden that will not be discovered, or hidden that will not be known”.

In a note, the PF stated that the action has the “objective of clarifying the performance of a criminal association constituted for the practice of crimes of embezzlement and money laundering”.

Four search orders are being carried out, in Brasília, São Paulo and Niterói (RJ).

The actions take place within the police investigation of the digital militias, in progress at the STF (Federal Supreme Court) under the rapporteurship of Minister Alexandre de Moraes.

Those investigated are suspected of using the structure of the Brazilian government to “misappropriate goods of high patrimonial value, delivered by foreign authorities on official missions to representatives of the Brazilian State, through the sale of these items abroad”, said the police.

According to the investigation, the values ​​obtained from these sales were converted into cash and entered into the personal assets of those investigated, without using the formal banking system, with the aim of hiding the origin, location and ownership of the values.

The jewels were sent to Bolsonaro by Saudi authorities in October 2021 through the delegation led by the then Minister Bento Albuquerque (Minas e Energia).

When the case came to light, Bolsonaro initially said he had neither asked for nor received any kind of jewelry gift from the Saudi Arabian government.

“I am now being crucified in Brazil for a gift I didn’t receive. I saw it in some newspapers maliciously saying that I tried to bring illegal jewelry to Brazil. There is no such thing”.

According to him, two or three days after the retention of the articles, the Presidency notified the customs that the pieces should go to a collection.

“So far so good, nothing much, in my opinion, the customs could have handed it over. It would go to the collection, it would be handed over to the first lady. And what does the legislation say? She could use it, she couldn’t dispose of it . That’s all, nothing else.”

In a statement given to the PF, the former president claimed to have been aware of the jewels seized by the Revenue 14 months after the incident.

According to the defense, Bolsonaro said that, after learning about the case, in December 2022, he sought information to avoid an alleged diplomatic embarrassment if the gifts were to be auctioned.