Federal Police accuse Bolsonaro of selling Saudi jewels to pay for U.S. stay

Brazil’s Federal Police concluded that former President Jair Bolsonaro used money from the illegal sale of jewelry gifted to him by foreign governments to pay for his controversial stay in the U.S. at the end of 2022 and start of 2023.

The accusations were part of the inquiry which culminated in the Federal Police recommending criminal charges against the far-right figurehead for embezzlement, conspiracy, and money laundering.

Mr. Bolsonaro is accused of leading a scheme to embezzle expensive official gifts made by other countries, sell them illegally, and pocket the proceeds. At least four gifts were stolen from government property: two Chopard jewelry sets, a Patek Philippe watch, and a Rolex. 

The police inquiry states that the proceeds from these sales were converted into cash and added to Mr. Bolsonaro’s personal assets, “through intermediaries, without using the formal banking system, with the aim of concealing the origin, location, and ownership of the funds.”

The authorities continue and highlight that funds from the illegal sale of jewelry “may have been used to cover the dollar expenses of Jair Bolsonaro and his family while they were in the U.S..” 

After becoming reclusive in the wake of his 2022 general election defeat to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Mr. Bolsonaro left Brazil at the end of December in order to avoid having to pass the presidential sash on to his political nemesis. He then remained in the U.S. for three months, until an underwhelming return in March 2023.

The Federal Police inquiry has been submitted to Brazil’s Supreme Court, and it will now be up to the Prosecutor General’s Office to decide whether he will face trial at the country’s highest tribunal.

While always denying wrongdoing, Mr. Bolsonaro has presented multiple versions of his story — from saying he never received the gifts, to claiming that his subordinates may have gone behind his back, to acknowledging that the jewelry was added to his personal archive due to being “highly personal gifts.”

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