Bolsonaro denies 'illegal acts' over Saudi jewels as Lula govt vows probe

Brazil's former president Jair Bolsonaro on Saturday denied committing "illegal acts" after a report that jewellery allegedly gifted by Saudi Arabia to him and his wife was brought into the South American nation without being declared to authorities.

The government of Bolsonaro's successor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, pledged to investigate the matter.

On Friday, O Estado de S Paulo newspaper reported that a member of Bolsonaro's government had illegally tried to bring to Brazil a US$3.2 million (RM14.32 million) jewellery set consisting of a diamond necklace, ring, watch and earrings gifted to the far-right former president and former first lady Michelle Bolsonaro by the Saudi government.

The Saudi embassy in Brazil did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"I'm being accused of a gift I neither asked for nor received," Bolsonaro was quoted as saying in an interview with CNN Brasil. "There is no illegality on my part. I never committed illegal acts."

Still, Lula aides promised that probe into the matter would be launched.

Justice Minister Flavio Dino said he would request a federal police investigation, while Paulo Pimenta, a spokesman for the leftist Brazilian president, stressed there would be no impunity.

"The evidence is robust and the truth will out," Pimenta said in a social media broadcast.

According to O Estado de S Paulo, the jewels valued at €3 million (US$3.19 million) were found by customs agents in the backpack of an aide to then-Mines and Energy Minister Bento Albuquerque who was returning from an official trip to the Middle East in October 2021.

Agents at the Guarulhos airport in Sao Paulo seized the jewellery, as people must declare any goods worth more than US$1,000 when they enter Brazil, the newspaper said, adding that the Bolsonaro administration unsuccessfully tried to recover the jewellery multiple times through government officials.

Bolsonaro is in the US, having flown to Florida in late December, 48 hours before Lula was sworn in. He attended the CPAC conservative conference in Washington on Saturday where he wasalso expected to meet former US president Donald Trump, his political ally.