TCU must order jewelry; Bolsonaro is advised to anticipate – 09/03/2023 – Mônica Bergamo

The Federal Audit Court (TCU) must order Jair Bolsonaro (PL) to return the jewels that were given to him as a gift by the government of Saudi Arabia.

The former President of the Republic has been advised, in the face of the inevitable, to anticipate and desist from keeping the luxurious pampering.

With that, he would anticipate the TCU’s decision and avoid even greater distress caused by the news that members of his government tried to bring the goods to Brazil illegally.

The jewels were sent to the country in two boxes, carried by the team of the then Minister of Mines and Energy Bento Albuquerque.

One of them, with a pair of earrings, a ring, a necklace and a watch, made with precious stones, were intended for the then First Lady Michelle Bolsonaro, according to the former minister. The set would be worth R$ 16 million.

The other package, which includes a watch, pen, cufflinks, a ring and a type of rosary, all from the Swiss diamond brand Chopard, was not intercepted by the IRS.

On November 29th, practically a month before the end of his term, it was delivered to the Planalto Palace and, according to the former president, incorporated into its collection.

Court ministers maintain that the items must all be returned by Bolsonaro and incorporated into the collection of the Presidency of the Republic.

They invoke a ruling approved this year by the TCU recommending authorities who traveled with Bolsonaro to Qatar in 2019 to return Cartier and Hublot watches, whose prices range from R$30,000 to R$100,000.

The pieces were delivered to the travelers by authorities in the Arab country.

Presents were received by, among others, the then ministers Onyx Lorenzoni (Casa Civil), Augusto Heleno (Institutional Security Office), Ernesto Araújo (Foreign Relations) and Osmar Terra (Citizenship).
Only Onyx Lorenzoni, so far, has stated that he will return the watch he received as a gift, following TCU’s recommendation.

The TCU stated, when approving the judgment, that “the receipt of gifts for personal use with high commercial value” by members of a diplomatic mission “extrapolates the limits of reasonableness” and is in “disagreement with the principle of public morality”, and it is up to delivery of the good to the Union.

What goes for Bolsonaro’s former ministers, therefore, would also be worth for the former president.

The first minister to dispatch in the case will be Augusto Nardes, drawn to report the representation that questions the receipt of the jewels by the former representative.

Although he has aligned himself with Bolsonarism on some issues, his colleagues at TCU claim that the minister should not oppose previous decisions by the court itself on gifts received on other occasions by Brazilian authorities.

_{with BIANKA VIEIRA, KARINA MATIAS It is MANOELLA SMITH}

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