The Brazilian court asked Bolsonaro to return the jewels received from Saudi Arabia within 5 days.
Brasilia:
A Brazilian court ruled Wednesday that former President Jair Bolsonaro has five days to hand over precious jewelry he received as a gift from Saudi Arabia, and ordered an audit of all official gifts during his presidency.
The Federal Court of Accounts (TCU), which oversees the exchequer, ordered the far-right ex-army captain to hand over two guns received as gifts from the United Arab Emirates in 2019 to the presidential palace collection.
Under Brazilian law, public officials can only keep gifts that are “both highly personal and of minimal monetary value”, court president Bruno Dantas said in a public hearing, calling on Bolsonaro to “return all the items involved in the case”. Five days’ time for “…the real owner, the Presidential Palace.”
The court’s unanimous decision is the latest chapter in a drama that has hit headlines in Brazil since allegations earlier this month that Bolsonaro tried to illegally import millions of dollars worth of jewelry that he and his wife had gifted from Saudi Arabia. as received.
The episode has turned into a legal and political headache for the former president, who is currently in the United States and expected to return to Brazil soon in hopes of leading the opposition to his leftist successor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Bolsonaro, who denies wrongdoing, offered through his lawyers to turn over the jewels to authorities pending the outcome of the investigation.
The scandal began when the newspaper Estado de Sao Paulo reported that customs officials intercepted Bolsonaro trying to enter Brazil with a diamond-studded bag from Swiss luxury firm Chopard after an official visit to Saudi Arabia in October 2021. Stopped an aide of the then Minister of Mines and Energy.
It later emerged that Bolsonaro had a second set of jewelry, also from Chopard, which had entered Brazil after the same trip.
Travelers entering Brazil with goods worth more than $1,000 are required to declare them and pay hefty import taxes.
Media reports put the value of the jewels at $3.2 million for the first set and at least $75,000 for the second.
They could also enter Brazil tax-free as an official gift to the nation. But then they would have belonged to the Presidential Palace collection, not the First Family.
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