– Bolsonaro money laundering charges
– Brazil police indict former president for criminal association.
Accident – Death – Obituary News :
SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s Federal Police have indicted former President Jair Bolsonaro for money laundering and criminal association in connection with undeclared diamonds the far-right leader received from Saudi Arabia during his time in office, according to a source with knowledge of the accusations.
A second source confirmed the indictment, although not for which specific crimes. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.
Brazil’s Supreme Court has yet to receive the police report with the indictment. Once it does, the country’s prosecutor-general, Paulo Gonet, will analyze the document and decide whether to file charges and force Bolsonaro to stand trial.
The indictment dramatically raises the stakes in a series of investigations into the divisive ex-leader applauded by his opponents but denounced as political persecution by his supporters.
Bolsonaro and his legal team have vehemently denied any wrongdoing related to the case, as well as the slew of investigations facing the former president. These include allegedly instructing an aide to manipulate public health records to falsify his COVID-19 vaccination certificate, for which he was previously indicted. Additionally, he is under scrutiny for his involvement in inciting an uprising in the capital Brasilia on Jan. 8, 2023, aimed at removing his successor from power.
In a separate investigation last year, the Federal Police alleged that Bolsonaro attempted to evade taxes by smuggling in diamond jewelry valued at $3 million and selling two luxury watches.
According to police findings in August, Bolsonaro received cash from the sale of two luxury watches worth nearly $70,000, which he had received as gifts from Saudi Arabia. Under Brazilian law, citizens arriving from abroad by plane must declare goods exceeding $1,000 in value and pay a tax equal to 50% of their worth above that threshold.
The jewelry would have been tax-exempt had it been a gift from Saudi Arabia to Brazil, but not for Bolsonaro to keep for personal use. Instead, it should have been added to the presidential collection.
The investigation revealed that one of Bolsonaro’s top aides, Mauro Cid, sold a Rolex watch and a Patek Philippe watch to a U.S. store for a total of $68,000 in June 2022. These watches had been gifted by the Saudi Arabian government in 2019. Cid later cooperated with authorities and confessed to the transactions.
Despite facing legal woes, Bolsonaro continues to enjoy unwavering support from his political base, as evidenced by a massive rally in February, where an estimated 185,000 people gathered in Sao Paulo to protest what the former president describes as political persecution.
Conversely, his critics, particularly members of rival President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s political party, have celebrated every advancement in the investigations and repeatedly called for Bolsonaro’s arrest.
Last year, Brazil’s top electoral court ruled that Bolsonaro abused his presidential powers during his 2022 reelection campaign, rendering him ineligible for any elections until 2030. The ruling stemmed from a meeting where Bolsonaro allegedly used government resources to propagate false claims about the country’s electronic voting system.
Bolsonaro is scheduled to meet with Argentinian President Javier Milei at a conservative conference in Balneario Camboriu, located in Brazil’s southern region, this weekend.
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– Brazil police indict ex-President Bolsonaro money laundering
– Brazil police indict ex-President Bolsonaro criminal association.