Federal Police target Bolsonaro inner circle in jewels probe

Lieutenant Colonel former President Bolsonaro’s right-hand man. Photo: Alan Santos/PR

The Federal Police launched an operation on Friday to investigate suspects of selling official gifts given to Brazilian officials during the Jair Bolsonaro administration.

The targets of the search and seizure warrants include Frederick Wassef — who worked as Mr. Bolsonaro’s lawyer — and retired General Mauro Lorena Cid, father of Army Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid, former President Bolsonaro’s right-hand man. Lt. Col. Cid was previously arrested by the Federal Police back in May on suspicion of defrauding Covid vaccine records, also for the benefit of Mr. Bolsonaro.

“Those investigated [today] are suspected of using the structure of the Brazilian State to divert expensive goods delivered by foreign authorities in official missions to representatives of the Brazilian State, by selling these items abroad,” the Federal Police said in a statement.

WhatsApp messages show that Gen. Cid sent to his son photos of jewelry boxes containing gold sculptures of a boat and a tree. Gen. Cid’s reflection can be seen in one of the photographs. At the time, he was working in the Miami office of the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil).

The proceeds from those sales were converted into cash, the Federal Police added, “without using the formal banking system.” The crimes under investigation include embezzlement and money laundering.

Earlier this year, newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo revealed that a Brazilian delegation led by then-Mines and Energy Minister Bento Albuquerque returned from Saudi Arabia in October 2021 with a case containing a necklace, a watch, a pair of earrings, a ring, and a gold horse sculpture about 30 centimeters long. The jewelry case alone was valued at more than USD 3 million.

After the case was seized by customs, the Bolsonaro administration made several unsuccessful attempts to retrieve the jewels. Video footage shows that on December 29, at the very end of Mr. Bolsonaro’s term, a Navy sergeant and presidential aide made a final attempt to retrieve the jewels, claiming that “nothing can be left” to the next government after the transition — a clear indication that the outgoing president did not intend for the gifts to be kept by the Brazilian State.

The operation to illegally retrieve the jewels was led by Lt. Col. Mauro Cid.