Brazil’s Federal Police (PF) demanded the breach of tax and banking secrecy of the former First Lady, Michelle Bolsonaro, in an investigation into allegations of embezzlement of luxury gifts delivered by foreign authorities to then-President Jair Bolsonaro. The former president is also the subject of the application sent by the PF to the judge of the Supreme Federal Court (STF), Alexandre de Moraes, who is responsible for deciding whether to agree to carry out the procedure.
Operation Luke 12:2
Last Friday, the Armed Forces of Pakistan carried out “Operation Luke 12:2”, which included Raid on the home of a former Bolsonaro aideAnd Lieutenant Colonel Mauro SidAnd in the home of his father, General Mauro Lorena Cid. Also raided were properties linked to Osmar Crivelati, who remains a member of the former president’s advisory team, and attorney Frederic Wassef, who works in the former president’s defence.
The operation is investigating whether soldiers linked to the former president were illegally trading in jewelry in negotiations whose value could exceed one million riyals (about $200,000). The luxury items under investigation were handed over to Bolsonaro during the time he was head of state. According to PF, The investigated facts constitute embezzlement and money laundering crimes.
The operation is named Luke 12:2 after the Bible verse that states: “There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known.”. According to Federal Court of Accounts regulations, gifts from foreign governments must be incorporated into the Attached Cabinet of Historical Documentation (GADH), a division of the Presidency responsible for guarding the gifts.
“The persons investigated are suspected of using the Brazilian state structure to transfer assets of high heritage valuehanded over by foreign authorities on official missions to representatives of the Brazilian state, through the sale of these items abroad. Bolsonaro has sold at least four batches of the jewelry in the United States Which he received state gifts on the occasion of his visit to the Arab countries.
The police investigation, published by the Supreme Court, indicates that Bolsonaro used the presidential plane on which he left Brazil on December 30, 2022 for the United States to exit the country without declaring the jewelry collections of “high heritage value”. obtained by virtue of his position. The jewelry was sent through middlemen to luxury specialty stores in Miami and New York for appraisal and sale.
In a note signed by his lawyer, Jair Bolsonaro denied the charges. In a similar vein, attorney Daniel Bialski, who is defending Michele Bolsonaro, maintained that the former first lady is “completely calm,” despite the fact that a video of her reacting angrily went viral on social media over the weekend. In front of some women who questioned her in a restaurant about the whereabouts of Saudi jewellery.
Jair Bolsonaro returned to Brazil last April after spending three months in the United States. After his return, the police had testified several times before in the jewelry case and in the investigation of the January 8 coup incidents. On that date, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed the offices of the presidency, Congress and the Supreme Court in an attempt to force a coup against President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
