Brazil’s federal police indicted former President Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday on charges of embezzlement, criminal association, and money laundering in relation to accusations that Bolsonaro misappropriated jewelry he received from the government of Saudi Arabia.
According to the Brazilian news network Jovem Pan, Bolsonaro could face between ten to 32 years in prison if he is convicted of all charges.
Thursday’s indictments, which target Bolsonaro and 11 of his close allies, are the result of “Operation Lucas 12:2,” a probe launched by the federal police in August 2023 to determine if Bolsonaro and his allies conspired to sell jewelry reportedly valued at $3.2 million that Bolsonaro and his wife received as gifts from the Saudi government in 2021. The Bolsonaros were legally obligated to declare them state assets.
The investigation was authorized by Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF) Minister Alexandre de Moraes and takes its name from an eponymous verse of the Bible that reads, “There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known.”
Bolsonaro, who has not publicly addressed the new indictments at press time, denied any wrongdoing with regards to the Saudi jewelry in an interview with CNN Brasil in March 2023, months before the investigation’s launch.
Some of the jewelry involved was seized by Brazilian customs and tax officials in October 2021 after former Mines Minister Bento Albuquerque brought it into the country upon return from Riyadh. Albuquerque reportedly failed to pay the required import duty fees on the items. Albuquerque is among the 11 close Bolsonaro allies indicted on Thursday on charges of embezzlement and criminal association.
In the indictment, the Brazilian federal police reportedly claimed that Bolsonaro, his former aide-de-camp Mauro Cid, and two of the former president’s advisors allegedly “acted to divert high-value gifts received by the former president as a result of his position, to be later sold abroad.”
The Brazilian police claimed that a luxury Rolex watch that was part of the gifted jewelry set was sold for $68,000 at a U.S. store before being repurchased by Frederick Wassef, one of Bolsonaro’s lawyers who was indicted for criminal association and money laundering.
Wassef released a statement in which he claimed that neither Jair Bolsonaro nor his former aide-de-camp Mauro Cid asked him to purchase the luxury Rolex watch.
“I was traveling in the United States for almost a month and I only performed a single act, which was to buy the Rolex with my own funds, to return it to the federal government,” Wassef’s statement reads. “I spontaneously handed over all the documents proving this to the Federal Police.“
“Neither I nor the ex-president’s other lawyers have had access to the final report, which shocks everyone, the leaking to the press of procedural documents that are secret from the courts,” the statement concluded. “I am going through all this just because I am practicing law in defense of Jair Bolsonaro.”
The police’s indictment will be forwarded to de Moraes, who will determine whether or not the case is sent to the attorney general’s office. If the case is accepted by the attorney general’s office, public prosecutors have 15 days to decide to either file a formal accusation, reach a non-prosecution agreement, or close the case.
Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, son of the former president, condemned the indictments on Thursday, describing them as part of an “open and brazen” persecution against his father.
“The persecution of Bolsonaro is open and brazen! Someone gets a gift, a committee of civil servants decides it’s theirs. The TCU [Brazilian federal audit office] questions it and the gift is returned to the Union [state],” Sen. Bolsonaro’s message read. “There is no damage to the treasury! Then the group of PFs, hand-picked for the mission, indicts the person.”
Fabio Wajngarten, another of Bolsonaro’s lawyers who was also indicted by the Brazilian police, published a lengthy social media post on Thursday evening in which he described his indictment as “arbitrary, unjust, and persecutory.” Wajngarten accused the police of indicting him for defending Bolsonaro as a client and claimed that he was indicted for the “bizarre reason” of having complied with the law.
“My legal advice was that the gifts received by the former President of the Republic should be immediately returned to the possession of the Federal Court of Auditors, in defense of any doubts about questions in the public interest,” he wrote.
“Legal advice is not a crime,” Wajngarten’s message continued. “My suggestion was accepted and the gifts were immediately returned in full to the TCU.”
Wajngarten asserted that he will continue his legal work and will turn to the Brazilian National Bar Association to guarantee his constitutional right to practice “without intimidation or political lawfare.” Wajngarten also stated that he will appeal the indictment at all instances available.
“Therefore, the Federal Police’s initiative to request my indictment in the case of the gifts received by the former president is arbitrary, unjust and persecutory. It is unspeakable violence and an attack on my right to work,” Wajngarten said.
Thursday’s indictments against Bolsonaro mark the second time the former Brazilian president has faced criminal charges. In March, the Brazilian federal police indicted Bolsonaro for allegedly having falsified proof of ingestion of a Wuhan coronavirus vaccine to be able to travel to the United States in December 2022. At the time, the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden maintained a strict ban on foreign nationals entering the United States without proof of receiving doses of any one of several approved Wuhan coronavirus vaccine products.
In addition to the two police indictments, Bolsonaro has faced several legal actions after being narrowly defeated in 2022 by radical leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Some of the legal actions have resulted in Bolsonaro being banned from running for public office until 2030, multiple police raids against him, his sons, and close allies, and being forced to hand over his passport, effectively rendering him unable to legally leave Brazilian territory.
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