Brazilian Federal Police Indicted Prosecutors on Thursday charged former Saudi Arabian President Jair Bolsonaro with embezzlement, criminal enterprise and money laundering for allegedly misappropriating jewels he received from the Saudi Arabian government.
According to the Brazilian news network Jovem PanIf convicted on all charges, Bolsonaro faces between 10 and 32 years in prison.
Thursday’s indictment targets President Bolsonaro and 11 of his closest associates and is the result of an investigation called “Operation Lucas 12:2.” Release Federal police are due to arrive in August 2023 to investigate whether President Bolsonaro and his allies conspired to sell the jewels. Reportedly President Bolsonaro and his wife received a gold bar worth $3.2 million from the Saudi Arabian government in 2021. The couple were legally obligated to declare it as state property.
The investigation was approved by the Minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), Alexandre de Moraes, whose name Bible It is written, “There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing hidden that will not be known.”
President Bolsonaro has not commented publicly on the new indictments as of press time, but was denied In a March 2023 interview with CNN Brazil, a few months before the investigation began, he denied any wrongdoing regarding Saudi jewelry.
Among the gems involved are Confiscated Brazilian customs and tax authorities confiscated the goods after former mines minister Bento Albuquerque brought them to Brazil after returning from Riyadh in October 2021. Albuquerque reportedly failed to pay import duties on the goods. Albuquerque is one of 11 close associates of Bolsonaro indicted on Thursday on charges of embezzlement and criminal enterprise.
In the indictment, Brazil’s federal police reportedly alleged that Bolsonaro, his former aide Mauro Cid and two former presidential advisers “misappropriated and later sold abroad expensive gifts that the former president received as a result of his position.”
Brazilian police said a luxury Rolex watch that was part of the gift set was sold out The item was sold in a U.S. store for $68,000 and then bought back by Frederic Wassef, one of Bolsonaro’s lawyers, who is facing criminal organization and money laundering charges.
In a statement, Wassef claimed that neither Jair Bolsonaro nor his former aide Mauro Cid had asked him to buy the luxury Rolex watch.
“I was traveling in the United States for almost a month and I did just one thing: purchase a Rolex with my own funds and return it to the federal government,” Wassef’s statement read. “I voluntarily handed over all the documents proving this to the federal police.”
“Neither I nor the other lawyers of the former president had access to the final report. It comes as a surprise to everyone that procedural documents, kept secret from the court, were leaked to the press,” the statement concluded. “I am experiencing all this because I work as a lawyer defending Jair Bolsonaro.”
The police indictment transfer De Moraes will decide whether the case will be sent to the attorney general’s office. If the attorney general’s office accepts the case, prosecutors will have 15 days to decide whether to file formal charges, reach a non-prosecution agreement or close the case.
The former president’s son, Brazilian senator Flavio Bolsonaro, denounced the indictment on Thursday as part of a “open and brazen” persecution of his father.
The relentless attack on Bolsonaro has been declared and thwarted!
The question is for the Public Service Commission to decide if it is you. Questions about the TCU submitted by União. No errors!
As part of a PF group, you will have a sense of personal pride and be driven by the goal of achieving the mission.— Flavio Bolsonaro (@FlavioBolsonaro) July 4, 2024
“The persecution of Bolsonaro is open and brazen! Someone receives a gift and a committee of civil servants decides it is theirs. TCU [Brazilian federal audit office] Questions arise and the gift is returned to the Union. [state]Senator Bolsonaro’s message read: “There will be no damage to the national treasury! The person will then be prosecuted by a group of PF handpicked for this task.”
Fabio Weingarten, another lawyer for Bolsonaro who has been charged by Brazilian police, published a lengthy social media post on Thursday night calling his prosecution “arbitrary, unjust and persecutory.” Weingarten accused police of prosecuting Bolsonaro because he defended his client, claiming he was being prosecuted for the “strange reason” of following the law.
The Federal Police complaint against me is the basis for the following legal action: “I filed the complaint because I did not exercise my rights, defended my client, and proved that the investigation to date has shown absolutely no evidence against me.” Specifically, it reads as follows…
— Fabio Weingarten (@fabiowoficial) July 4, 2024
“My legal advice is that the gifts received by the former President of the Republic should be returned immediately to the Federal Audit Office to prevent questions of public interest,” he wrote.
“Legal advice is not a crime,” Weingarten’s message continued. “My offer was accepted and the gift was immediately returned in full to TCU.”
Wajngarten said she would continue practicing law and ask the Brazilian National Bar Association to guarantee her constitutional right to do so “without intimidation or politicized legal action.” Wajngarten also said she would take every opportunity to appeal the charges.
“The request by the federal police to prosecute me for gifts I received from a former president is therefore arbitrary, unjust and persecutory. It constitutes unspeakable violence and an attack on my labor rights,” Weingarten said.
Thursday’s indictment against Bolsonaro marks the second time a former Brazilian president has faced criminal charges. In March, Brazilian federal police Indicted Bolsonaro was charged with allegedly falsifying proof of vaccination for the Wuhan coronavirus vaccine in order to travel to the United States in December 2022. At the time, the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden strictly prohibited foreign nationals from entering the United States without proof of vaccination with one of several approved Wuhan coronavirus vaccine products.
In addition to the two police charges, Bolsonaro is facing several legal actions after his narrow arrest. defeat It will be enacted in 2022 by radical left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Several legal actions have allowed Bolsonaro to Banned Barred from running for public office until 2030 after multiple police attacks hehis Sonsand a close ally, Forced They were asked to hand over their passports, effectively preventing them from legally leaving Brazilian territory.
