Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been accused of trying to smuggle €3 million worth of jewelry into Brazil that Saudi Arabia offered to his wife Michelle during an official visit.
According to the Estado de São Paulo newspaper, the jewels — a diamond necklace, a ring, a watch and a pair of earrings — were found in the backpack of an adviser to the former mining minister in Bolsonaro’s government, who accompanied the couple on an official visit in October 2021. The jewelry will be a gift from the government of Saudi Arabia to the then First Lady of Brazil. The fact that they were in the adviser’s backpack was a ploy to avoid declaring them at customs.
Brazilian law specifies that all gifts to heads of state and their spouses must be delivered to the collection of the president. If the Bolsonaro spouses declared the jewelry private property, they would have to pay an import tax of 50% of the value of the item. Since the jewelry was not declared, an additional penalty of 25% will be added.
Estadão also claims that Bolsonaro tried several times in the following months to return the jewels, the last of which was a few days before leaving the presidency, but the tax authorities were adamant.
Author: Ricardo Ramos
Source: CM Jornal
I am Michael Melvin, an experienced news writer with a passion for uncovering stories and bringing them to the public. I have been working in the news industry for over five years now, and my work has been published on multiple websites. As an author at 24 News Reporters, I cover world section of current events stories that are both informative and captivating to read.