Brazil's Federal Audit Court (TCU) orders Bolsonaro to return the second package of Saudi jewels within five days.
The Court also ordered a full audit of all "gifts" received by the Presidency between January 2019 and December 2022.
247 - The Federal Court of Accounts (TCU) unanimously determined this Wednesday (15) that Jair Bolsonaro (PL) must hand over within five days the package with luxury jewels, valued at R$ 400 thousand, which he received from the Saudi monarchy and which were incorporated into his personal collection.
The items must be delivered to the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic. The General Secretariat will also have to keep the goods in custody until the TCU (Federal Court of Accounts) judges the merits of the matter.
The Court also ordered a full audit of all "gifts" received by the Presidency between January 2019 and December 2022.
The ministers of the TCU (Federal Court of Accounts) followed the vote of the case's rapporteur, Augusto Nardes, in demanding the return of the jewels. Nardes himself reversed his vote from last week's position, which had allowed Bolsonaro to remain as the custodian of the gifts.
Read also the article from Rebuildables about the subject:
Former minister changes his story, says the jewels were 'gifts from the State' and complicates things for Bolsonaro.
In testimony to the Federal Police (PFOn Tuesday (14), former Minister of Mines and Energy Bento Albuquerque said that the million-dollar jewels he received from the Saudi Arabian government in October 2021 were “gifts from the State”. When the scandal broke, he told the newspaper The state of Sao Paulo The jewelry, valued at R$ 16,5 million and seized by the Federal Revenue Service, was allegedly intended for the then First Lady, Michelle Bolsonaro. The second package, containing men's items that entered the country illegally, was also allegedly for Bolsonaro.
To the police, the former minister – who is a fleet admiral in the Navy – changed his story. He said that he understood he received the packages in Saudi Arabia in his capacity as a representative of the Brazilian government, and that the Saudis did not specify their destination.
Last week, the Bolsonaro family's lawyer, Frederick Wassef, attempted to justify the inclusion of the second gift in Bolsonaro's "personal collection." According to the lawyer, these were items of a "highly personal" nature. Senator Flávio Bolsonaro also tried to push the same version. This second package contains a watch with a leather strap, a pair of cufflinks, a pen, a ring, and a... masbaha (a type of Islamic rosary), valued at around R$ 400.
During his testimony, Bento also contradicted himself. According to his lawyers, the former minister stated that the gifts were not opened until the delegation arrived in Brazil, and that at no point was he informed that the jewelry was for Jair Bolsonaro or Michelle. However, when the jewelry was seized, the former minister told tax officials that "all of this is going to the First Lady."
Furthermore, Albuquerque confirmed to the Federal Police that he did not declare either of the two packages to the tax authorities. The first package, the more valuable one, was found in the backpack of Marcos André dos Santos Soeiro, then an advisor to Albuquerque. He was also questioned by the Federal Police on Tuesday.