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full screen Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro is charged with, among other things, embezzlement and money laundering. Archive image. Photo: Thomas Santos/AP/TT
Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro is suspected of embezzling jewelry worth 6.8 million Brazilian reals, equivalent to over 13 million Swedish kronor, according to a police report.
Bolsonaro was indicted last week on suspicion of embezzlement, money laundering and having links to crime.
Investigators within the federal police have claimed that a criminal group, allegedly involving Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro, tried to sell luxury jewelry given as gifts by foreign leaders on state visits, worth at least 13 million kroner, according to The Guardian.
The police report is filled with photographs of extravagant gifts from foreign governments that were allegedly embezzled, including a Chopard rollerball pen worth $20,000, a pair of earrings worth more than $126,000 and a special edition Rolex watch valued at nearly $74,000.
The investigators also claim that the money from the sales went to the president’s personal fortune “through intermediaries and without using the formal banking system, in order to hide the origin, whereabouts and ownership of these sums”, writes The Guardian.
If Bolsonaro is convicted, he could be sentenced to 25 years in prison.