Ethics Commission opens process on Bolsonaro’s jewelry case

Bolsonaro

Ex-Minister and Ex-Secretary of Revenue will also be investigated

The Public Ethics Commission of the Presidency of the Republic opened a process to investigate the conduct of those involved in the case of jewelry received from Saudi Arabia in October 2021. The pieces were gifts to then-president Jair Bolsonaro and his wife, Michelle Bolsonaro, and entered the country in a delegation from the Ministry of Mines and Energy that was in the Middle Eastern country at official events.

The performance of former Minister of Mines and Energy Bento Albuquerque, former Special Secretary of the Federal Revenue Júlio César Vieira Gomes and former head of the Deputy Office of Historical Documentation of the Presidency Marcelo da Silva Vieira will be investigated. The decision to initiate the ethical process was taken at an ordinary meeting of the committee, last Monday (31).

The rapporteur will be the president of the Public Ethics Commission, Edson Leonardo Dalescio. According to a public note released this Tuesday (1st) afternoon by the Presidency, there are signs of unethical conduct.

In the case of Albuquerque, there are “alleged ethical misconduct related to the transport of luxury goods on official travel and irregular conduct during customs clearance”. Vieira Gomes, on the other hand, will be investigated for “alleged ethical deviation in the use of a customs control body with a view to releasing the goods” and Silva Vieira, for “alleged ethical deviation in the allocation of jewels to the presidential private collection”.

Valued at BRL 5.1 million, the jewelry box – with a necklace, ring, pair of earrings and diamond watch – was retained by the Federal Revenue Service at the International Airport of São Paulo/Guarulhos. The articles were in the backpack of an advisor to the then Minister Bento Albuquerque. At the time, the advisor and the minister did not declare the objects at customs, as required by law. Albuquerque said at the time that the jewels were a gift for the then First Lady Michelle Bolsonaro.

In an attempt to recover the jewels, Júlio César Vieira Gomes signed a letter authorizing the Federal Revenue auditors in Guarulhos to deliver the box to a Bolsonaro advisor. A career auditor, Gomes was dismissed last month. According to the IRS, there was no attempt to regularize the jewelry.

Every traveler arriving in Brazil must declare personal property whose value exceeds US$ 1,000. Public agents, on the other hand, must declare assets that are not for personal use as belonging to the Brazilian State.

The case involves two more kits of jewelry. All of them are already under the custody of Caixa Econômica Federal.

Another gift from the Saudi government was a men’s jewelry case, with a watch, a pen, cufflinks, a ring and a type of rosary, from the Swiss diamond brand Chopard, valued at R$ 500,000. This was not noticed by the Revenue in Guarulhos and entered the country. More than a year later, in November 2022, a representative of the Ministry of Mines and Energy delivered the objects to the Adjunct Cabinet for Historical Documentation, which sent them to the president’s private collection.

The body of the Presidency of the Republic is responsible for, among other actions, analyzing gifts received by Brazilian authorities and saying whether they are objects for personal use or intended for the Brazilian State due to their historical, cultural and financial value. At the time, Marcelo da Silva Vieira was chief of staff.

Evaluated at R$ 500 thousand, the third kit among the pieces is a Rolex watch. The Federal Police is also investigating the case. Former president Jair Bolsonaro denies any wrongdoing.

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