Brazil's Court of Auditors (TCU) on Wednesday ordered ex-right-wing ex-president Jair Bolsonaro to hand over to the authorities, within five days, the jewels received from the Saudi government that entered the country illegally.
This public accounts watchdog, which also functions as a court, also called for the handing over to the official collection of the presidency of the firearms that Jair Bolsonaro received from the United Arab Emirates in 2019. The TCU has also demanded a survey of all gifts offered by foreign countries under his presidency (2019-2022).
Unanimous decision
According to Brazilian law, only gifts "
of a highly personal nature or of minimal monetary value
" can be kept by the head of state, recalled the president of the TCU, Bruno Dantas, during a public hearing.
"
In the absence of these two criteria, they must inexorably be kept in the collection of the presidency
," he said.
This decision, taken unanimously by the judges of the Court of Auditors, is the latest twist in the Saudi jewelry scandal which has hit the ex-president to the point of compromising his political future.
This scandal erupted two weeks ago, when the daily
Estado
de S. Paulo revealed that the Brazilian customs had seized at the international airport of Guarulhos, near São Paulo, a set of diamonds worth three million euros in the backpack of the assistant of a former minister of the Bolsonaro government.
This minister and his assistant were part of a delegation returning from an official visit to Saudi Arabia in October 2021.
Swiss luxury brand
These jewels of the Swiss luxury brand Chopard, whose presumed recipient would be the former first lady Michelle Bolsonaro, were seized because they had not been declared in advance.
Another batch of jewelry of the same brand, not checked by customs, however arrived in the possession of Jair Bolsonaro.
It is this lot, made up of male jewelry (watch, cufflinks and fountain pen) with an estimated value of more than 70,000 euros, that the TCU ordered the ex-president to hand over to the authorities.
The diamond set remains in a trunk at the customs service at Guarulhos airport.
Read alsoBrazilian justice sharpens its weapons against ex-president Jair Bolsonaro
Jair Bolsonaro has been in the United States since December 30, two days before the end of his mandate and the inauguration of his left-wing successor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
He denies any wrongdoing and his lawyers said on Monday he was willing to return the men's jewelry lot.
In Brazil, any goods worth more than one thousand dollars must be declared before entering the country and the holder must pay the corresponding taxes.
