Jair Bolsonaro Used Crime Ring To Sell $1.2 Million Worth of Luxury Gifts, Brazil Police Say

Former Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro is in legal hot water because of a scandal that Brazilian media called "Jewelrygate" where he did not disclose luxury gifts given to him by Saudi Arabia and police have found that an alleged crime ring connected to the far-right former president sold some of these luxury goods.

According to Brazilian police, Bolsonaro used this crime ring to illegally siphon off and sell luxury gifts that he received from other world leaders. He was reportedly able to sell at least $1.2 million from the selling of these luxury goods.

These new claims come just three days after police formally accused the man known as the "Trump of the Tropics" of embezzlement, money laundering, and criminal association. Police have also recommended that he be criminally charged for these accusations.

The Guardian noted that if charged and convicted of these crimes, the far-right former president could spend a total of 25 years in prison.

Brazil Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes was the one who authorized the release of the 476-page federal police investigation into the alleged Jair Bolsonaro crime ring. The existence of that crime right was revealed just months after the far-right politician left office.

The report, translated from Portuguese, read that investigators found evidence of "a criminal association geared towards the embezzlement of high-value gifts received as a result of the ex-president Jair Bolsonaro's office and/or by Brazilian government delegations that were acting in his name, during international trips ... which could later be sold overseas".

"The sums obtained through these sales were converted into cash and incorporated into the ex-president's personal patrimony, through intermediaries and without using the formal banking system, in order to hide the origin, whereabouts and ownership of those sums," investigators added.

Jair Bolsonaro Would Not Have Been Able to Keep the Luxury Gifts If He Declared Them

Under Brazilian law, the jewelry given to him by Saudi Arabia would not have been tax-exempt once it entered Brazil. Furthermore, Bolsonaro could not have kept the jewelry himself, but it would have been incorporated into the presidential collection.

Bolsonaro tried to keep the luxury gifts for himself. However, as an aide to one of his ministers, he tried to smuggle it to Brazil and did not declare it. That aide was soon caught, leading to "Jewelrygate," where it was discovered that Bolsonaro's family received "revenue obtained through the illegal sale" of the jewelry.

Jair Bolsonaro Tried To Auction Off the Jewelry in the US

One of the ways the criminal ring tried to sell the jewelry was to try and auction it in the United States, particularly by using the auction company, Fortuna Auction. However, Brazil's Federal Police caught up to this plan.

According to France 24, the recently-released documents showed that Bolsonaro and a former top aide talked about the luxury goods being auctioned off in the US,. This showed that he knew about them being sold.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Brazil's Bolsonaro questioned: Former President accused of trying to import jewellery • FRANCE 24