Revenue chief was called to release jewelry from Michelle and Bolsonaro

Investigation

From the United States, the former president denied knowing about the jewels and said that he neither asked nor received anything. Michelle went to social media to mock the value of the gift, which she claimed to be unaware of.

Brasilia DF) – It was 6:10 pm on December 29, 2022, when Federal Revenue server Marco Antônio Lopes Santanna received an “urgent” visit at the Guarulhos Air Base, in São Paulo. A Brazilian Air Force plane had just arrived at the airport terminal to “meet the demands” of the President of the Republic, as shown in a FAB document. That Thursday (2nd), Santanna received Navy First Sergeant Jairo Moreira da Silva.

The military had a mission determined by then-President Jair Bolsonaro. There were two days left for the Chief Executive to leave office. Since he was still president, Bolsonaro took action. It was necessary to remove the diamond jewelry valued at BRL 16.5 million, gifts from the Saudi Arabia regime to him and the then first lady, Michelle Bolsonaro.

Upon finding the server at the airport, Silva showed his cell phone screen, displaying a letter addressed “to Mr. Julio Cesar”. It was Julio Cesar Vieira Gomes, the secretary who was in charge of the Revenue at the time. The military said he was there to remove “some material” held up at customs and that the head of the Revenue itself should have already contacted the customs of Guarulhos. The document referred to a “Term of Retention of Goods” related to jewelry.

The server, however, did not swallow the story. He said he had no information and would not hand over anything. Concerned, Silva called someone he referred to as a “colonel” and asked the auditor to speak with his “colonel”. He denied doing that kind of service over the phone.

The soldier insisted. He said he would identify the person responsible for the Revenue who would deal with the release. Santanna explained that the letter displayed on the cell phone was not addressed to him, but to the head of Revenue. He repeated that he was unaware of such an operation and that, as it was a matter of withdrawing and incorporating goods, the process would have to be formalized in an “Act of Goods Disposal”.

But Bolsonaro’s emissary had orders to leave the place with only the jewelry in hand. Silva then displayed a “Term of Retention”, but Santanna repeated that he would not be able to help. The soldier was exasperated. He said he was carrying out his mission “on an urgent basis”. The auditor asked that the document be sent to the customs’ corporate e-mail address, but Silva said he would wait for instructions, as his “colonel” would talk to someone else.

It was there that the first sergeant commented on the change of command in the Presidency of the Republic, in two days. In his attempt to convince, he told Santanna that that was part of the change of government: “You can’t have anything from the old one to the next one, you have to take everything and take it”.

A new call rang on the military’s cell phone. It was Julio Cesar Vieira Gomes, the secretary who headed the Federal Revenue and was aligned with Bolsonaro. The military suggests passing the cell phone to the auditor. The idea was that the release of the jewels would be reinforced by Julio, but Santanna remained unshakable, denied the release and asked the military to get in touch with the Guarulhos customs officer. The call ended.

Santanna then asked the military to wait for a response from the Guarulhos customs officer, with the due Merchandise Allocation Act, but again stressed that, even with the presentation of the document, in that circumstance, it would be very difficult to access the jewels . FAB records show that the president’s emissary would return to Brasília on a commercial flight. If he had managed to remove the jewelry, the items would have entered through the Brasília airport, outside the customs area, and would have been in the hands of the Bolsonaro couple.

Investigation

From the United States, the former president denied knowing about the jewels and said that he neither asked nor received anything. Michelle went to social media to mock the value of the gift, which she claimed to be unaware of.

The jewels are seized in the Revenue vault, in Guarulhos. Today, tax auditors and representatives of the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office are meeting to begin investigations into the illegal and frustrated attempts by the Bolsonaro government to enter Brazil with the millionaire set of necklace, ring, pair of earrings and watch studded with diamonds.

*With information from O Estado. of S. Paulo

Read more:

Dino will trigger the PF to investigate the Bolsonaro government’s attempt to illegally bring jewelry to Brazil

Disclosure of Bolsonaro card data violates the law, says Ministry of Health

Federal Revenue says Bolsonaro government did not ask for regularization of jewelry