The former president of Brazil Zach Bolsonaro and his wife Michelle arrived today at the headquarters of the Federal Police in Brasilia to testify as part of an investigation into the alleged misappropriation of jewelry that was gifts from foreign countries. It is the fifth time the former far-right leader has given a statement to the police since he stepped down in late December after losing the presidential election to leftist Luis Inacio Lula da Silva.
Bolsonaro, the former first lady and six of their close aides are expected to answer police questions separately and simultaneously. One of them will testify at a Sao Paulo police station.
An AFP photojournalist saw the arrival of several vehicles at the headquarters of the federal police in Brasilia a few minutes before the scheduled start time of the depositions (11.00 local time, 17.00 Greek time). According to the media, Bolsonaro was in one of them.
Investigators suspect that his entourage resold some of these gifts, mainly luxury watches, for the “illegal enrichment” of the former head of state (2019-2022).
The latter, according to the Athens News Agency, therefore risks imprisonment for money laundering and misappropriation of public property. According to Brazil’s Audit Court, only gifts “of a particularly personal nature or of minimal monetary value” may remain in the hands of Brazil’s president at the end of his term.
THE federal police decided that the interrogations would take place simultaneously, which could highlight any contradictions between the versions of the persons testifying. The jewelry scandal erupted in March when the newspaper Estado de S. Paulo revealed that high-ranking officials had tried to smuggle a diamond piece of jewelry intended for Michelle Bolsonaro as a gift from Saudi Arabia into Brazil without declaring it. beforehand.
But investigators say there are indications that several other state-owned gifts may have been embezzled, such as a Rolex watch that was resold in the U.S., then bought by a Bolsonaro lawyer.
A supreme court judge two weeks ago allowed the ex-president and his wife to be declassified to identify possible suspicious activity in their accounts linked to the case.
It had been examined again in April
Bolsonaro he had been examined by federal police as part of the same investigation in April and had denied any wrongdoing.
Last week, Michelle Bolsonaro referred ironically to the scandal. “They are talking so much about jewelry that I will soon launch the ‘Mijoux’ line,” she had said during a party event.
In addition to the criminal cases, Bolsonaro has been in trouble with Brazil’s top electoral court, which barred him from standing for eight years over false claims he made about the integrity of the election, specifically spreading false information about electronic ballots. ballot boxes.
Source: News Beast
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