Brazil inquiry into alleged Bolsonaro-era pilfering of official gifts widens
“Every Rolex tells a story,” the luxury watchmaker once claimed.
Brazilian police believe that slogan is particularly true when it comes to the diamond-set timepiece at the centre of an investigation into the suspected pilfering of high-priced official gifts by close associates of Jair Bolsonaro – and possibly the former president himself.
The scandal – involving hugely expensive presents from Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, a four-star army general, the presidential Airbus and a luxury watch-dealer in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania – first made headlines in March, three months after Bolsonaro left power after losing last October’s election.
One of Brazil’s leading conservative newspapers reported that, in October 2021, São Paulo airport customs officials had confiscated a €3m (£2.6m) pair of diamond earrings that a military official travelling with one of Bolsonaro’s ministers had tried to import in his backpack without declaring it. Bolsonaro officials tried, unsuccessfully, to reclaim the jewellery which was supposedly a present for the then first lady, Michelle Bolsonaro, from Saudi Arabia.
Bolsonaro and his family have denied any wrongdoing. But the scandal has reached new heights in recent days after federal police requested access to Bolsonaro’s banking records, citing suspicions that members of his inner circle had been selling off official gifts, including the Rolex, after spiriting them out of Brazil on the presidential jet.
Brazilian federal police claim the white gold Rolex wristwatch – a gift from Saudi Arabia to Bolsonaro in the first year of his 2019-23 administration – found its way to the US watch-dealer which promises “risk-free transactions” to customers from across the world.
A Patek Philippe timepiece, reportedly given to Bolsonaro by Bahrain,
allegedly ended up in the same shop while a set of Chopard jewellery from Saudi Arabia was put up for sale on an auction site. The Chopard items – a watch, pen, cufflinks, ring and an Arabic rosary – failed to find a buying willing to meet the $120,000 asking price.
But police say the Rolex and Patek Philippe watches were sold for a total of $68,000 by one of Bolsonaro’s closest aides, Lt Col Mauro Cid Barbosa, who was arrested in May as part of a separate investigation into the falsification of Covid vaccination records used to enter the US.
Last Friday, Mauro Cid’s father, an army general called Mauro Lourena Cid, was dragged into the scandal after police launched a series of raids targeting the Bolsonaro associates it believes were involved in the alleged embezzlement scheme.
Among the evidence they have gathered is a mobile phone photograph in which the general’s reflection is said to be visible in a black box containing a golden palm tree the group is suspected of trying to sell after Bolsonaro received it from Bahrain.
The police operation was called Luke: Chapter 12 Verse 2 – a reference to the line in the Bible: “There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known.” The name appeared to be a mocking reference to one of Bolsonaro’s main catchphrases, from the Gospel of John: “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Eight months after losing power, Brazil’s former leader is mired in legal difficulties, including investigations into his anti-scientific handling of the Covid pandemic and his alleged role in instigating the 8 January attacks in Brasília.
On Wednesday afternoon the expresident is expected to be quizzed by federal police for the fourth time since January. The diamond-set DayDate Rolex, meanwhile, has found its way back to Brazil, allegedly after being repurchased by a lawyer close to the Bolsonaro clan who flew to the US to recover the watch (at a higher price) after Brazilian authorities demanded its return.
That lawyer, Frederick Wassef, whose nickname is the Angel, has also denied any wrongdoing. “I’ve never seen this watch. I’ve never seen any jewellery. Never in my life,” he told a journalist from the TV network GloboNews, calling the allegations “a total set up”.
However, on Tuesday, Wassef changed his tune, saying he had travelled to the US to recover the Rolex for the price of $49,001 with the intention of delivering it to Brazilian authorities. “I used my own money,” he told reporters.
“All of this seems like an Italian comedy,” the political commentator Ricardo Kotscho told the UOL website, “In fact, it’s a tragedy.”