Politician Smuggles Luxury Jewelry Worth $3.2 Million into Brazil: Investigation Launched
In October 2021, a government employee returning from Riyadh was found with a stash of luxury jewelry worth $3.2 million (€2.96 million) in their luggage, which was confiscated by customs officials at Sao Paolo International Airport. The Brazilian ex-president Jair Bolsonaro and his wife were reportedly the recipients of these items, which were given as a gift from the Saudi Arabian government and other sources. Bolsonaro’s successor, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, called for an investigation into the matter and described Bolsonaro’s actions as “smuggling.”
The charges against Bolsonaro were made public by an article on the news website G1. The former president’s lawyer has not yet responded to requests for comments on the matter. This is not the first time Bolsonaro is facing criminal accusations – last year he was charged with falsifying his COVID-19 vaccination records in March.
In November 2020, police raided the homes of several military officers who allegedly assisted Bolsonaro in selling jewelry to the United States without proper reporting. The pieces that were seized during this raid could have been used to fund his political activities and campaign during his presidency.
