Brazil police raid Bolsonaro aides over sale of jewellery gifts

Brazilian police on Friday raided the addresses of a lawyer to former president Jair Bolsonaro and the family of his jailed personal aide to investigate the alleged sale of jewellery and other presents from Arab governments.

The search warrant issued by Supreme Court justice Alexandre de Moraes followed police allegations that Bolsonaro's aides used government resources for their personal advantage.

A federal police statement said those under investigation "are suspected of using the structure of the state to divert high-value assets delivered by foreign authorities to Brazilian representatives on official visits, through the sale of these items abroad."

The decision by Moraes, seen by Reuters, said proceeds of the sales were delivered in cash to Bolsonaro via intermediaries.

Moraes authorised the police to search the homes or offices of lawyer Frederick Wassef and Mauro Cesar Cid, the father of Bolsonaro's former aide-de-camp Lt Col Mauro Cid, to seize computers, tablets, cameras and data storage media.

Wassef did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday. A representative for Mauro Cesar Cid could not be reached for comment.

The decision by Moraes cites messages obtained by the police in which Mauro Cid, Bolsonaro's former aide, deals with the sale of statues, a palm tree and a gold-plated boat received as gifts during an official visit to Bahrain.

Cid has been in jail since May related to a separate investigation into the alleged fraudulent insertion of vaccination data into the records of the former president and his associates. His father was a contemporary of Bolsonaro's in the army and served in the federal government during his presidency.

The raids follow an investigation into jewellery worth some US$3 million (RM13.76 million) given by the Saudi Arabian government as a presidential gift to Bolsonaro, which he failed to declare.

Bolsonaro denies he committed any wrongdoing. The jewellery was returned this year to the state, as ordered by the federal audit court.

The police investigation has established that Bolsonaro aides tried to recover the Saudi jewellery given to then-first lady Michelle Bolsonaro after it was seized in October 2021 in Sao Paulo by customs officials, who found the gems in an aide's backpack when he entered Brazil from Riyadh.