Police say the value of the illegal sale of official gifts was given to Bolsonaro in cash to leave no trace.

In a report sent to the Federal Supreme Court (STF), the federal police accuse former President Jair Bolsonaro of having received proceeds from the illegal sale of official gifts donated by other countries to Brazil, which he embezzled and took to the US. when leaving the government, the document says. In the 105-page PF report, the name of Jair Bolsonaro is mentioned 93 times, and the investigation indicates that he received these illegal amounts in cash so as not to leave any evidence.

“The amounts received from these sales were converted into cash and entered the personal assets of the former President of the Republic through intermediaries and without the use of the formal banking system in order to conceal the origin, location and ownership of these valuables. says an excerpt from a detailed federal investigation report that led the STF to authorize search and seizure operations launched this Friday at the offices and residences of several of Jair Bolsonaro’s inner circle in Brasilia, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. .

The main targets of the operation were Bolsonaro’s former adjutant, Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid, already arrested for another crime involving the former head of state, the father of this officer, General Mauro Lauren Cid, and his lawyer. President Frederick Wasseff. On a hurried flight from Brazil to the United States on December 30, 2022, the day before the end of his term, Bolsonaro took suitcases full of valuable gifts on an unscreened presidential plane, according to the Federal Police. such as jewelry. , objects of gold and diamonds and works of art donated to Brazil during his mandate by governments of other countries and which, in violation of laws, were not included in the country’s collection.

In the United States, General Mauro Lorena Cid, who held a position in the official Brazilian representation on American soil, was in charge of the sale of these valuable items in jewelry stores and auctions, as early as the verification of a federal investigation. Amounts corresponding to these Brazilian public goods transactions were deposited into the general’s own account, who then converted everything into cash and handed it over to Bolsonaro without leaving any trace, the report said.

Since decades ago, when he was still an MP, Jair Bolsonaro, his children and other family members, including ex-wives, have been accused of transferring millions in cash to hide the origin of these resources, almost always in corruption, but the political influence of the family today hinders the development of these processes. Bolsonaro was not the target of this Friday’s operation, but the Federal Police already had access to the audio and text messages deleted from the suspects’ mobile phones, but managed to be recovered by the agents in which Mauro Sid and his father, General Mauro Lorena Sid, they agreed to deliver , just once, $25,000 to a former ruler who stayed until March 30 last year in the US, making sure it was in cash so as not to leave any trace.