Brasília, Brazil:
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro may be facing money laundering and other charges in connection with undeclared diamond jewelry sent to him by Saudi Arabia, local media reported Thursday.
Brazilian news outlet G1 reported that federal police have charged Bolsonaro, who led South America’s largest country from 2019 to 2022, with money laundering, embezzlement and ties to criminal organisations.
The case stems from an undeclared diamond jewelry set worth $3.2 million that was seized by customs inspectors in October 2021.
The jewels were found in a bag brought by a member of President Bolsonaro’s Ministry of Mining and Energy when he returned from a visit to the Middle East.
President Bolsonaro has previously denied any criminal wrongdoing in the case.
In addition to the far-right leader, 11 others have been charged, including lawyer Fabio Weingarten.
Weingarten responded that Mr. X had been accused of a crime “for the bizarre reason that he was following the law.”
Bolsonaro’s son, Brazilian senator Flavio Bolsonaro, also denounced the allegations against Mr X as a “open and brazen persecution” of his father.
Despite the federal police move, Brazil’s prosecutor’s office has yet to file formal charges against President Bolsonaro with the country’s Supreme Court.
The new charges mark the latest legal troubles for the former far-right leader, who is also being investigated for his role in the January 2023 attack on Brazil’s congress and could face charges of falsifying COVID-19 vaccination certificates in order to travel.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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