Brazilian Ex-President Jair Bolsonaro Testifies in Jewelry Scandal Investigation
Police patrols the outside of the Federal Police headquarters in Brasília, Brazil, while Ex-President Jair Bolsonaro testifies against the jewelry embezzlement accusations. Photo: AP/Gustavo Moreno
On Wednesday, Apr. 5, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro had to testify in the Federal Police headquarters in regards to a Brazilian delegation's attempt to illegally smuggle jewelry gifted by Saudi Arabia for his personal gain. The interview lasted three hours and concurred with the testimony of nine other people involved in the scandal, including Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid, who participated in a failed scheme in 2022 to recover the jewelry from the Internal Revenue Service.
Only last month, newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo revealed that the jewelry had been apprehended in the airport of Guarulhos, São Paulo, in October of 2021 from a military advisor to the then-Minister of Mines and Energy, Bento Albuquerque. This advisor of the Brazilian delegation did not declare the jewelry in his bag upon entry to Brazil. According to national law, when coming into the country with objects acquired abroad that exceed the value of one thousand dollars, the traveler must declare the possessions and pay an importation tax equivalent to 50% of the value of the product.
The contents in his case, which included a pair of earrings, a necklace, a ring, and a watch, all made of diamonds, summed to around $3 million. When the case was confiscated, Former Minister Albuquerque intervened, suggesting that the pieces were gifts for then-first lady Michelle Bolsonaro. Despite the efforts to smuggle the contents of the case, the airport customs security seized them.
If the Saudi jewelry had been gifts to the Brazilian State, the delegation would have been exempt from the entry fees. However, since they were supposedly meant for the Bolsonaro family, the latter would therefore have to pay the 50% tax as well as a 25% additional tax for failing to declare the objects to the Internal Revenue Service, which would amount to over 2 million dollars, nearly 12 million reais.
Following the event in 2021, Bolsonaro allegedly tried to recover the jewelry multiple times from the airport customs, calling upon different government bodies to intervene in the situation. The last attempt involved Lieut. Mauro Cid, who claims he received orders from Bolsonaro himself to send an official repossession order to the Internal Revenue Service on Dec. 28, days before the end of the President's term.
The Navy agent who effected the order appeared in Guarulhos on Dec. 29 asserting that "nothing could be left" to the succeeding administration, which would be led by recently-elected Lula da Silva.. While he failed to recover the pieces, he clarified that they were not meant for the Brazilian State.
Bolsonaro's testimony was kept confidential by the Federal Police, but snippets of the interview were made public by the Former President's defense team. According to the latter, Bolsonaro stated that he did not know about the arrival of the jewelry in Brazil for at least a year after the incident in Guarulhos. In addition, he said he did not remember who informed him about the events, and that all the actions he took thereafter were intended to prevent a "diplomatic embarrassment" with Saudi Arabia.
Bolsonaro greets supporters outside the Liberal Party's headquarters in Brasília, Brazil, upon his arrival in the country on March 30, 2023. Photo: AP/Gustavo Moreno
The testimony happened only one week after Bolsonaro returned to Brazil from the United States. The ex-president left days before Lula's inauguration, staying a total of three months abroad.
Now that he has arrived, he will face multiple legal challenges beyond the one pertaining to the jewelry embezzlement. There are 16 pending cases against him in Brazil's Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE). One of the other investigations is looking into whether he incited the protesters who invaded the government's most important buildings in Brasília on Jan. 08, after Lula's inauguration.
If Bolsonaro is found guilty of any charges, he becomes ineligible for running for presidency in 2026. This possibility clouds the future of the extreme right in Brazil. As journalist Altamiro Borges observed in an interview this week for Central do Brasil, "[Bolsonaro's ineligibility would] alter the political chessboard in the country, especially within the conservative field."