Bolsonaro, wife, and relatives face diamonds probe

EFE News Agency – Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, his wife Michelle, and six relatives appeared on Thursday before the Federal Police, to testify about an alleged attempt to misappropriate jewels given to him by Arab countries when he was still in power.

The case refers to a set of jewels and objects of great value that the far-right leader received on official trips to Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries and that he should have handed over to the state when he left office.

According to the investigations, Bolsonaro sold some of the jewels through intermediaries, although some of his collaborators bought them back once the State demanded their return.

According to Justice, the matter could involve an attempt to misappropriate public property, a hypothesis that Bolsonaro has emphatically denied in previous statements on the case.

In addition to Bolsonaro and his wife, the former deputy of the Presidency, Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid, and the former head of government communication, Fabio Wajngarten, have been summoned.

Also the lawyer Frederick Wassef, , and two advisers to Bolsonaro.

All, could have participated in the sale of some of the jewels, which the lawyer Wassef repurchased after the State demanded their return, last January, when Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, winner of the elections last October, assumed power. The statements will be taken at the same time but separately.

Other probes
The suspicions of the authorities point out that the money been obtained from the sale of some of the jewels would be delivered to Bolsonaro, whose bank accounts are scrutinized by the Justice.

The far-right leader is being investigated in other civil and criminal cases, including one related to the January 8 attempted coup, when thousands of his supporters invaded the offices of the Presidency, Congress, and the Supreme Court in an attempt to overthrow to the Lula government.

In another severe setback, the electoral Justice has stripped him of his political rights for eight years, due to abuses of political and economic power during the campaign for last year’s elections.