Ex-Brazilian President arrest over alleged sale of Saudi-gifted watch.
According to allegations made by Brazilian federal police, president made money off the sale of two pricey watch he received as presents from Saudi Arabia while in government, which brought in close to $70,000.
Officers searched the residences and workplaces of numerous people allegedly connected to the case earlier this month, including a four-star army general. In relation to the presents, Bolsonaro has denied any misconduct.
According to rumors, Bolsonaro’s personal banking and financial information is being accessed by the Federal Police, who have requested assistance from the FBI.
Bolsonaro would grant the Brazilian judiciary access to his banking records, according to a statement from his attorneys. Bolsonaro, according to the report, has never stolen or lost any public property.
Brazilian law mandates that visitors arriving by plane must disclose any items costing more than $1,000 and pay a tax of 50% of the item’s value for any items costing more. If Saudi Arabia had given the jewelry to Brazil as a gift, it would not have been Bolsonaro’s to keep and would have been tax-exempt.
Federal Police assert that the money obtained from these purchases was transformed into cash and then transferred into the former president’s personal assets through middlemen and outside the accepted banking system, in accordance with a decision by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.
According to the judge, investigators think the suspects’ plan was to “hide the origin, location, and ownership of these amounts.”
The inquiry found that Lt. Col. Mauro Cid, a Bolsonaro adviser, sold two watches—a Rolex and a Patek Philippe—that had been gifts from the Saudi Arabian government in 2019 to a retailer in the US for a combined $68,000 in June 2022. The money supposedly moved to Cid’s father’s bank account that day.
