Brazil’s Bolsonaro ordered to turn over gifted jewellery, guns

A Brazilian court has ordered former President Jair Bolsonaro to return jewelry he allegedly received from the government of Saudi Arabia as a gift during his presidency.

Wednesday’s decision by Brazil’s Federal Audit Court comes days after Brazilian police launched an investigation into an alleged attempt to illegally bring a set of jewelry worth more than $3.2 million into the country.

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Those baubles, intended for the then president and his wife Michelle, were intercepted by customs officials in 2021. But authorities are expecting to recover a second set of jewelery worth $75,000, which is believed to have entered the country without identification.

Both the sets of jewelery were reportedly presented as gifts by the government of Saudi Arabia.

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Wednesday’s court order gives Bolsonaro five days to hand over two guns he received from the United Arab Emirates in 2019, along with any jewelry offered by the Saudis.

In addition, the order launches an audit of all official gifts received by Bolsonaro during his presidency, which ran from 2019 to 2022.

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The court further declared that the seized jewelery package worth $3.2m would remain in custody at the offices of the President. Members of Bolsonaro’s administration had previously attempted without success to release the jewels while holding the office of the far-right politician.

The package includes a diamond necklace, ring, watch and earrings from luxury Swiss jeweler Chopard. The jewelry was discovered in the backpack of an aide to Bolsonaro’s energy minister as the employee returned from a trip to Saudi Arabia.

Court president Bruno Dentas told a public hearing that under Brazilian law, public officials can only keep gifts that are “both highly personal and of minimal monetary value”.

Travelers entering Brazil with goods worth more than $1,000 are also required to declare them and pay hefty import taxes.

Bolsonaro’s administration could make goods tax-free in the country as an official gift to the nation. However, they will belong to the collection of the Presidential Palace and not to the President and his family.

Dantas said that the presidential palace was the “rightful owner” of the items in question.

The issue has dominated headlines in Brazil since it was first reported in early March in the Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper.

Last week, Justice Minister Flavio Dino announced an investigation into the jewelry scandal, asking police to find out whether Bolsonaro’s employees crossed the border for government gifts or high-value items “without following legal procedures.” had tried.

Bolsonaro has denied any involvement in illegal activity, telling CNN Brazil that he was being “crucified” for a gift he neither requested nor received.

However, on Monday, his lawyer accepted the second set of jewelery as a gift and said in a letter to the police that he would account for those gifts.

Bolsonaro has been living in the US since late December, shortly before his successor, leftist politician Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, takes office. Lula defeated Bolsonaro in the presidential election in October.

However, Bolsonaro hasn’t given up just yet. He and his political allies have claimed, without evidence, that Brazil’s voting system was prone to fraud, leading some supporters to call for a military coup against Lula’s presidency.

Bolsonaro is being investigated for any involvement in the January 8 attack, in which his supporters stormed key government buildings in the capital, Brasilia.