Brazil Police To Probe Former President Bolsonaro’s Bank Accounts

By Agencies

A Supreme Court judge in Brazil authorized police to access the bank records of ex-president Jair Bolsonaro and his wife, Michelle, over allegations they embezzled jewellery and other official gifts, media reports said.

Bolsonaro and former aides are under investigation over allegations they tried to illegally keep and sell expensive objects received from countries such as Saudi Arabia and Bahrain during his presidency, including a diamond-encrusted Rolex and jewels from Swiss luxury house.

Local media said Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes authorized federal police to investigate the Bolsonaros’s bank and tax records in Brazil, and also request access to their bank and tax records in the United States, reported Brazilian media outlets, including news site G1.

Bolsonaro (2019-2022) left Brazil for the United States two days before the end of his term, snubbing the January 1 inauguration of his successor, veteran leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who beat him in a divisive election last October.

In the United States, Bolsonaro’s aides allegedly sold or attempted to sell various valuable gifts from foreign governments.

Last week, Moraes ordered police raids of several Bolsonaro allies’ homes in connection with the investigation.

Bolsonaro denied wrongdoing when he was ordered to face questioning by police in April.

The politician dubbed the “Tropical Trump,” who returned to Brazil in March, faces numerous legal woes.

Electoral authorities have barred him from running for office for eight years in connection with his unproven claims of widespread fraud in the voting system.

The Supreme Court is also investigating whether he played a role in riots by supporters who invaded the presidential palace, Congress and high court headquarters on January 8, calling for a military intervention to oust Lula.

In the latest twist in that case, authorities arrested commanders of the Brasilia police force Friday for dereliction of duty, alleging they had intelligence on the planned invasions but failed to act.

Prosecutors said in a statement the investigation had found evidence of “deep ideological contamination” and “adherence to conspiracy theories” in the capital’s military police force.

Media reports said those arrested included the force’s then-commander and his successor.