Bolsonaro’s ex-minister intimate recipe on jewelry – 03/14/2023 – Power

The Federal Revenue summoned former Minister Bento Albuquerque (Minas e Energia) to explain the entry into Brazil of a second jewelry case later delivered to former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL).

The auditors in Guarulhos want to know why the delegation from Albuquerque did not follow the traditional route, through the import regime, focused on cases of incorporation of public goods.

In their assessment, if a gift was given for this purpose, there would be no possibility of declaring it as their own.

A set of jewelry and a watch valued at BRL 16.5 million that would have been for former first lady Michelle Bolsonaro was retained by the Revenue at the airport in Guarulhos (SP) as soon as Albuquerque and his team landed in Brazil. The case was revealed by the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo.

A second package, which includes a watch, pen, cufflinks, ring and a type of rosary, all from the Swiss diamond brand Chopard and later delivered to Bolsonaro, was in the luggage of one of the members of the entourage and was not intercepted by the Revenue, as shown. The Sheet.

The case of jewels, both those intercepted and those that went unnoticed, is considered atypical from beginning to end.

There are situations, for example, of professors who return with donations to universities. But in the case of the government, the practice is that the materials come as diplomatic baggage and the request for incorporation into the assets must be made via the General Secretariat of the Presidency.

Normally, to speed up the import process, the Revenue is notified in advance. The material would necessarily be retained for a few hours, but generally the release occurs on the same day.

“I’ve never been involved in a case [de presente] that came with the passenger. In general, it comes as diplomatic baggage, through the embassy itself. To be honest, I’ve never taken anything of such high value either. So it’s not common. Now, it’s not prohibited. If he did it right, it wouldn’t be banned. The issue was the way it was done”, says Mario de Marco, Guarulhos Airport Customs delegate.

He did not give specific details of the investigation. But, generally speaking, he said that it is not appropriate to claim ignorance of the rules. Even more so when it comes to authorities, with advice at their disposal.

In the case of Bento Albuquerque’s entourage, as is routinely the case, the approach is not carried out casually. A cross of 50 points is made for the decision to be made.

“Regardless of the passenger, whether he or she is an authority or not, there are a number of factors that can draw attention. Theoretically, it is to be expected that an authority offers less customs risk than another passenger”, says De Marco.

Depending on the situation, cases of undeclared objects can be an infraction punishable with a fine or a crime of attempted embezzlement, explain auditors.

“If you consider luggage, it is an infraction, a tax offense. You pay the fine and it’s over, the Revenue will not represent you, you will not be arrested in the act. Unlike if you bring an iPhone bag, it is not for you, you have no concept of luggage and there is no fine to release”, says the Deputy Delegate of Customs at Guarulhos Airport, André Martins.

In the case in question, as it was an official entourage, at first the matter was not treated as a case that would involve arrest in flagrante delicto for embezzlement.

This does not mean that, as investigations progress, the picture cannot change, aggravated mainly by the second package of jewels that entered the country without declaration.

The intercepted jewelry was found with the former adviser to the folder Marcos André Soeiro and retained because goods acquired abroad with a value greater than US$ 1,000 need to be declared to the Revenue. The case was revealed by the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo.

Documents after the seizure show that the Ministry of Mines and Energy tried, between October and November 2021, to recover the jewels, arguing that they would be analyzed for incorporation “into the private collection of the President of the Republic or the public collection of the Presidency of the Republic”.

The top of the Revenue now has access to these pressure attempts.

Since the situation was not regularized, the Revenue determined the forfeiture of that good. The jewels were going to be auctioned, but as the case came to light, they became evidence in inquiries into the matter.

It is not yet known what the fate of the jewels will be, which must still undergo expertise. According to the auditors, who defines their fate, in a major case like this, would normally be the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad (PT), as he heads the portfolio to which the Revenue is subordinated.

The case is also investigated by the Federal Police, in which Albuquerque and a former adviser caught with the jewels were subpoenaed.

Regarding the second package that entered the country with the entourage without going through the Revenue, Bolsonaro confirmed that it was incorporated into his private collection, but denied illegality.

Soeiro did not comment on the case. Vargas claims to have returned to Brazil carrying only personal items and that, when he landed at Guarulhos airport (SP), he was not carrying items offered as official gifts to the Bolsonaro government.

To the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo Bento Albuquerque said that the shipment withheld by the Revenue was a gift for Michelle, but he said he did not know the contents of the jewelry case. Later sought by Sheetdenied that his team tried to bring expensive gifts intended for Bolsonaro and Michelle.