Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Saturday denied committing “illegal acts” following reports that jewelry allegedly given to him and his wife by Saudi Arabia had been brought to the South American nation without informing authorities. The government of Bolsonaro’s successor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, has pledged to investigate the matter.
On Friday, O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper reported that a member of Bolsonaro’s government illegally tried to bring into Brazil a $3.2 million jewelry set consisting of a diamond necklace, ring, watch and earrings given to 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 am accused of a donation that I neither asked for nor received,” Bolsonaro said in an interview with CNN Brasil. “There is no illegality on my part. I have never done anything illegal.”
Still, Lula’s aides promised that an investigation into the matter would be launched. Justice Minister Flavio Dino said he would ask federal police to investigate, while Paulo Pimenta, a spokesman for Brazil’s leftist president, stressed there would be no impunity.
“The evidence is strong and the truth will come out,” Pimenta said in a social media broadcast. According to O Estado de S. Paulo, the jewels, worth 3 million euros ($3.19 million), were found by customs agents in the backpack of Bento Albuquerque, an aide to then-Minister of Mines and Energy, who was returning from an official trip to the Mediterranean. East in October 2021.
Agents at Sao Paulo’s Guarulhos airport seized the jewelry because people must declare any goods worth more than $1,000 when entering Brazil, the newspaper said, adding that Bolsonaro’s administration had repeatedly tried unsuccessfully to get the jewelry back through government officials.
Bolsonaro is in the United States, having flown to Florida at the end of December, 48 hours before Lula was sworn in. On Saturday, he attended the conservative CPAC conference in Washington, where he was also expected to meet with former US President Donald Trump, his political ally.