Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro denied on Saturday March 4 that he was "
illegal
" after local media reported that he had tried to smuggle into his country glitzy jewelry donated by Saudi Arabia in 2021.
Brazilian newspaper
O Estado de S. Paulo
wrote on Friday that a Bolsonaro government convoy attempted in October 2021 to smuggle jewelry into the country that had not been declared at customs.
The set, worth $3.2 million, was a gift from the Saudi government to the former president's wife, Michelle Bolsonaro.
Jewelry seized by officers
In detail, a necklace, a ring, a watch and a pair of earrings were discovered during a search at Guarulhos Airport, São Paulo.
The jewels were thus found in the backpack of an adviser to the Minister of Mines and Energy at the time, who was returning from an official trip to the Middle East.
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Not having been declared at customs, the jewels were seized by the agents, the Brazilian law stipulating that goods with a value greater than one thousand dollars must be declared, and that customs duties apply to the goods. .
Brazilian customs have since kept the adornment.
However, if the jewels had been declared as an official gift to the State, they would have belonged to the Brazilian State even after the end of the mandate of Jair Bolsonaro.
Smuggling offenses and embezzlement
"
I am being accused of a gift that I neither asked for nor received
," the former far-right leader said in an interview quoted by
CNN
.
Jair Bolsonaro said he did not know the value of the jewels, nor that they were intended for the presidential treasury.
Justice Minister Flávio Dino said on Friday that he would ask the federal police to open an investigation on Monday.
"
Facts related to jewelry, which may constitute crimes of smuggling, embezzlement and money laundering, among others (...) will be officially brought to the attention of the police", wrote the minister on
Twitter .
According to the same Brazilian newspaper, the administration of Jair Bolsonaro tried several times, without success, to obtain from the customs that they give him the jewels.
