Jewel gifts from the Saudis Oh no
While former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been sitting in a private apartment complex in Florida since December, more and more scandals have emerged from his reign in his homeland.
Beautiful life in the US: Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro at a luxury resort in Florida.
Photo: Joe Riedel (Getty Images)
At first glance, Jair Bolsonaro’s new life looks very interesting. At the end of December, in the final days of his term as Brazil’s president, the far-right politician had Sent to the United States. He has not returned since, nor for the traditional inauguration of his left-wing successor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva On January 1, it was still to pacify the right-wing mob, which stormed the government district of the capital, Brasília, a few days later.
As his homeland threatened to descend into chaos, Bolsonaro sat in Florida, in a private apartment complex: well-kept family homes, neatly trimmed lawns. Still living there, the former president has reported what his supposed daily life looks like online: Videos show him chatting with fans in the driveway, walking down a shopping street or in front of the vegetable counter at the supermarket. One would think that the far-right politician has become a friendly pensioner. But this is not the case.
Because while Jair Bolsonaro is said to be enjoying the sun and his quiet life in Florida, new scandals from his reign are constantly emerging in Brazil. Sometimes it has to do with the fact that the Brazilian authorities are said to have monitored thousands of individuals and celebrities. And again, there is the issue of whether Bolsonaro did not vaccinate himself against Covid-19 at an early stage, even though he has publicly warned about the alleged risks of immunization and at the same time the risks of the pathogen. have underestimated.
An expensive gift: a necklace, a watch and a ring, all with diamonds.
Photo: Isaac Fontana (Keystone)
But the biggest scandal at the moment is about jewelry worth more than three million dollars: a diamond necklace, earrings, a watch and a ring. The jewelry was reportedly a gift from the Saudi government to Michel Bolsonaro Be Jair Bolsonaro’s Wife.
However, when customs at São Paulo airport found the jewels in the backpack of a Ministry of Mines and Energy employee who had just returned from a trip to Saudi Arabia in October 2021, officials confiscated the jewels: they had not been declared. Entry and, in any case, state employees in Brazil are prohibited from accepting gifts worth more than the equivalent of approximately 930 francs.
The former Brazilian president denies all blame. “I am being laughed at because of a gift I never received,” Bolsonaro told a Brazilian television station. Meanwhile, it turned out that there was apparently a second bag with jewelry that had passed through customs unnoticed, and may have been in the possession of Bolsonaro and his wife ever since. There are also videos showing that government officials at the time tried to recover the jewelry just days before Bolsonaro left for Florida.
Investigations into several cases
Authorities launched investigations while he was still in power, sometimes because of corruption in the president’s environment, and sometimes because of his possible complicity in Brazil’s 700,000 Covid deaths. Nearly a dozen lawsuits threaten Bolsonaro in his home country, not to mention the jewel case. And that’s another reason why the 67-year-old is reluctant to return to Brazil: Bolsonaro also knows that the quiet life will come to an end for the time being.
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