Brazilian police have searched homes belonging to several former advisers to ex-president Jair Bolsonaro. They are suspected of, on Bolsonaro’s behalf, having resold exclusive gifts that he received during visits abroad.
The scandal erupted earlier this year following the revelation that customs seized jewels from a government adviser who in 2021 tried to bring them into the country undeclared in a backpack.
Brazilian citizens are required, upon arrival by plane, to declare and pay a 50 percent tax on goods exceeding a certain value. Gifts to a president from another state are exempt from tax – but the president is not allowed to keep them in private possession.
The scandal involves several different gifts.
In connection with the decision on the house search on Friday, parts of the underlying police investigation were made public. There it appears that Bolsonaro is suspected of having received money from the sale of two luxury watches that he received as a gift from Saudi Arabia during his time as president.
“The proceeds from these sales were converted into cash and then ended up in the president’s possession through intermediaries without going through the formal banking system,” the investigators claim, speaking of an “illicit enrichment” of the former president.
Bolsonaro’s lawyers say the judiciary will have access to his bank statements.