JEDDAH: Former President Jair Bolsonaro is on the verge of arrest for his alleged involvement in the sale of two luxury watches gifted by Saudi Arabia at a jewelry store in United States.
Brazil’s federal police have alleged Bolsonaro received cash from the nearly $70,000 sale of two luxury watches he received as gifts from Saudi Arabia while in office.
Earlier this month, officers raided the homes and offices of several people purportedly involved in the case, including a four-star army general. Bolsonaro has denied any wrongdoing involving the gifts.
According to reports, the Federal Police is seeking authorization to access the personal banking and financial information of Bolsonaro and asked for help from the FBI.
Bolsonaro’s lawyers said in a statement that he would authorize Brazil’s judiciary to have access to his banking records. It said Bolsonaro has never embezzled or misplaced any public assets,
Brazil requires its citizens arriving by plane from abroad to declare goods worth more than $1,000 and, for any amount above that exemption, pay a tax equal to 50% of their value. The jewelry would have been exempt from tax had it been a gift from Saudi Arabia to Brazil, but would not have been Bolsonaro’s to keep.
“The amounts obtained from these sales were transformed into cash and then became personal assets of the former president through middle people and without entering the formal banking system,” Federal Police contend, according to an order issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.
The judge said police believe the strategy of the suspects was “hiding the origin, location and ownership of these amounts.”
According to the investigation, Bolsonaro’s aide, Lt. Col. Mauro Cid, in June 2022 sold to a store in the US a Rolex watch and a Patek Philippe watch given as a gift by the government of Saudi Arabia in 2019 for a total of $68,000. The money was allegedly transferred to the bank account of Cid’s father the same day.
In March 2023, when investigations were already underway and the Federal Police requested Bolsonaro return two sets of jewelry gifts, his lawyer, Frederick Wassef, repurchased the Rolex watch in Miami and turned it over to Brazilian authorities in April, the order said.
Earlier this year, Bolsonaro was ruled ineligible to run for office until 2030 after a panel of judges ruled he abused his power and cast unfounded doubts on the country’s electronic voting system.
He is facing trial in several other cases that could put him behind bars. He is also being investigated in relation to a rampage by his supporters in the national capital after he left office as well as acts during the presidential election campaign.
