What is known about Bolsonaro’s precious stones and Rolex – 06/08/2023 – Politics

Documents obtained by the CPI on January 8 indicate that former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) would have been presented with precious stones. The parliamentarians also had access to the exchange of emails pointing out that the former assistant Mauro Cid tried to sell a Rolex watch given to the former president on a trip to Saudi Arabia, a case that came into the sights of the PF (Federal Police).

On social media, Bolsonaro shared a report from the Sheet about the case, highlighting that the newspaper heard a lawyer from Teófilo Otoni, in Minas Gerais, who said he was the donor of the stones. Without naming names, the former president said he was the victim of slander by a member of the commission.

Understand what is known so far:

What did the CPI find?
The parliamentarians had access to email exchanges between officials of the Presidency’s assistance of orders that indicate that Bolsonaro received, in October 2022, an envelope and a box with precious stones for the then first lady, Michelle Bolsonaro.

In the messages, former adviser Cleiton Henrique Holzschuk says that Cid had asked that the stones not be registered and that they should be delivered directly to him.

Who gave Bolsonaro the alleged gems?
Lawyer Josino Correia Junior, a resident of Teófilo Otoni, told the Sheet that he was the one who gave the gift to Bolsonaro. According to him, the set of semiprecious stones is composed of blue topazes, citrines (yellow stone) and prasiolites (green), packed in a case. There are four stones of each type, which would have cost R$ 400.

What is the value of the stones?
Shopkeepers in Teófilo Otoni say that the carat of blue topaz varies, on average, from US$ 7 (about R$ 35 at the current exchange rate) to US$ 15 (the equivalent of approximately R$ 73), depending on the shade of blue in the stone.

Citrine carats, according to merchants, are traded in the city for between R$20 and R$30. Prasiolite carats range from R$10 to R$30. 10, for example, would cost around R$ 200.

What did the CPI do with the information?
Parliamentarians asked the PGR (Attorney General of the Republic) to investigate the origin and whereabouts of the stones. They question whether Bolsonaro committed the crime of embezzlement and claim that there is no record of the stones in the list of 1,055 items officially received by the former president during his term.

What else did the CPI find out about Mauro Cid?
Documents sent to the CPI, revealed by the newspaper O Globo, indicate that Cid tried to sell a Rolex watch received by Bolsonaro on October 30, 2019 during a lunch offered by the King of Saudi Arabia to the Brazilian entourage.

The commission’s report indicates that Cid exchanged messages in English with Maria Farani, a former advisor to the Adjunct Information Office in Bolsonaro’s personal office.

In the emails, when asked about the watch’s original warranty certificate and how long he was waiting for the piece, Cid replied that the object had been a gift received on an official business trip that had never been used and that he expected to receive around US$ 60,000 (about of BRL 290 thousand).

The PF launched an investigation into the case.

What weighs against Cid?
Mauro Cid is the subject of investigations at the STF (Federal Supreme Court) and at other instances, including the case of jewelry sent to the former president by Saudi Arabian authorities. The soldier has been arrested since the beginning of May by order of Minister Alexandre de Moraes.

In July, he attended the January 8 CPI, but remained silent. In the same month, a report by Coaf (Council for the Control of Financial Activities) pointed out atypical movements in Cid’s account and evidence of money laundering in the sending of BRL 367,000 to the US.

What is known about the Saudi jewelry received by Bolsonaro?
In April, Bolsonaro and Cid gave testimony about jewelry received from Saudi Arabian authorities. The former president acknowledged that the items were gifts for Michelle and that he tried to get them back, but that the objects had been registered, denying irregularity.

In October 2021, a military adviser to the then Minister Bento Albuquerque (Mines and Energy) tried to land in Brazil with luxury items in his backpack. As they had not been declared, the goods were seized by the Federal Revenue – 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 also 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 showed the Sheet.

By determination of the TCU (Union Court of Accounts), the articles were handed over to Caixa Econômica Federal to be kept until the end of an investigation carried out by the court of accounts.

The same procedure was adopted for a third jewelry case, personally offered to the former president when he was in Saudi Arabia in 2019.