BRASÍLIA, DF (FOLHAPRESS) – The Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government tried to illegally bring to Brazil a set of jewelry and a watch valued at 3 million euros (about R$ 16.5 million).
The information was revealed by the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo this Friday (3), and the action was confirmed by Minister Paulo Pimenta, head of the Special Secretariat for Social Communication, who published photos of the luxury items seized and of a document that reports what happened at the customs at Guarulhos airport.
The luxury items were in the backpack of a military man, who at the time was an advisor to Minister Bento Albuquerque (Mines and Energy); and would be a gift from the government of Saudi Arabia to the then First Lady Michelle Bolsonaro.
On a social network, Michelle denied being the owner of the jewels, but gave no further explanations and joked: “You mean ‘I have all this’ and I didn’t know? My God! You’re really going far, huh?! I’m laughing at the lack of fit from this press [sic] vexing,” he posted on Instagram.
The military man responsible for the backpack was part of the presidential entourage that had been to the Arab country in October 2021.
The IRS did not respond to questions in the report. Attorney Frederick Wassef, an advocate for the former president, said he would not comment.
According to the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo, after the Revenue had retained the jewels, Bento Albuquerque tried to release them, when he informed that the objects were a gift from the Saudis to Michelle.
Goods purchased abroad with a value greater than US$ 1,000 (a little over R$ 5,000) must be declared to the Revenue upon entry into Brazil.
When they exceed this amount, they are subject to import tax, which is 50% on the surplus.
The Revenue agent retained the jewels even with Albuquerque’s intervention, according to the newspaper. The publication also reports that there were other attempts by the Bolsonaro government to recover the gifts from the Saudis, and three ministries would have been mobilized for this (Economy, Mines and Energy and Itamaraty).
On December 28, 2022, days before the end of his term, Bolsonaro sent a letter to the Revenue Service asking for the articles to be sent to the Presidency of the Republic.
Bolsonaro traveled to Florida, in the United States, days before the inauguration of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), on January 1st. In this way, he ignored the democratic rite of symbolically transferring power to his successor.
Michelle accompanied him on the trip, but has already returned to Brazil. Bolsonaro remains in the US.
During the inspection of the Albuquerque advisor’s luggage, says the publication, Revenue agents found a 30-centimeter golden horse sculpture. Inside, there was a case with the jewels, which were accompanied by a certificate from Chopard – a brand of luxury jewels and watches.
According to the document released by Minister Paulo Pimenta, on the day of the seizure Marcos André dos Santos Soeiro was selected for inspection after going through an x-ray at customs. He had just disembarked from a flight from Doha (Qatar).
Soeiro was at the time head of the representative office of the Ministry of Mines and Energy in Rio de Janeiro.
Upon verification, “it was found that the passenger was carrying a set of women’s jewelry consisting of 1 pair of earrings, 01 ring, 01 necklace and 01 watch, appearing to be made with precious stones, as well as a horse-shaped ornament with ornaments appearing to be in gold. Certificates of origin were found along with the jewels, which remained inside their box”.
Soeiro informed after the inspection that he was in Albuquerque’s entourage on the visit to Saudi Arabia and requested that the then minister enter the inspection area.
The Minister of Revenue “informed that for the goods to be considered property of the Union as a gift from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Ministry of Mines and Energy should formally request the recognition of this condition, with the tax effects relevant”, continues the document.
On Monday (27), Folha de S. paulo showed that the head of intelligence at the Federal Revenue at the beginning of the Bolsonaro administration accessed and copied confidential tax data from the coordinator of investigations into the alleged “cracks” scheme (the then attorney general of Justice of Rio Eduardo Gussem) and two politicians who had broken with the presidential family, businessman Paulo Marinho and former minister Gustavo Bebianno.
Official internal government documents obtained by the report and testimony from people directly related to the case show that Ricardo Pereira Feitosa, then general coordinator of Research and Investigation of the Revenue (sector that takes care of the intelligence of the agency), unmotivatedly accessed the data on the days July 10, 16 and 18, 2019, the first year of the Bolsonaro administration (2019-2022).
There was no formal investigation underway at the Revenue Service against these three people, which resulted in the subsequent opening of an internal investigation and disciplinary proceedings against Feitosa.
The former intelligence chief denies wrongdoing.
Presenters Luciano Huck and William Bonner, from TV Globo, singer Anitta, participants of the reality show Big Brother Brasil and even former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) had tax data accessed irregularly, shows an unprecedented document from the Federal Revenue that Folha de S.Paulo had access.
The names of these taxpayers are on the list presented in April 2021 by the Federal Revenue to the TCU (Union Court of Auditors) in the course of an investigation into inquiries without justification to tax data.
The cases occurred from 2018 to 2020. Although the date coincided with the irregular accesses made by the then head of intelligence at the Revenue against Bolsonaro family disaffections (2019), the irregularities found are not directly related to this episode.