RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilian federal police are questioning former President Jair Bolsonaro over the attempt to smuggle diamond jewelry worth an estimated $3 million and the sale of two luxury watches he received as gifts from Saudi Saudi when he was in office, federal authorities said Thursday.
Bolsonaro arrived at the federal police headquarters in Brasilia on Thursday morning, a police spokesman confirmed to journalists gathered in front of the site, including the Associated Press.
Another police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed to the AP that the former president and seven other people were summoned to answer about the jewelry.
The police will question Bolsonaro’s wife, Michelle; two lawyers; former collaborator Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid; Cid’s father; Osmar Crivelatti and Marcelo Câmara, said the agent. The embattled far-right leader is the subject of several investigations.
Weeks ago, the police raided the homes and offices of several people allegedly involved in the jewelry case and accused Bolsonaro of charging $70,000 for the sale of two luxury watches gifted by Saudi Arabia.
Bolsonaro denies having committed any crime.
His lawyers did not respond to an AP request for comment.
The undeclared jewelry investigation is one of several headaches Bolsonaro faces.
Months ago, a panel of judges disqualified him from running for elections until 2030 for abuse of authority and unfoundedly questioning the electronic voting system.
Another case that implicates him is Cid’s arrest in May for allegedly falsifying Covid-19 vaccination certificates for his and Bolsonaro’s family during the pandemic.
A parliamentary commission is investigating whether Bolsonaro incited the January 8 riots in which his supporters ransacked the Supreme Federal Court, the presidential palace and Congress a week after the inauguration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
