STF Minister Alexandre de Moraes authorizes breach of secrecy between Bolsonaro and Michelle
The Minister of the STF also endorsed the collaboration between the Federal Police and the US authorities aimed at breaking the secrecy of the former president Jair Bolsonaro and former first lady Michelle. Mauro Cid's lawyer, a former aide-de-camp, said that Cid is scheduled to testify that he personally delivered a sum of money from jewelry to former President Bolsonaro.
Former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and former First Lady Michelle Bolsonaro - Photo Reproduction/Internet
The Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), determined this Thursday (17) the breach of banking and tax secrecy between former president Jair Bolsonaro and former first lady Michelle Bolsonaro. Earlier in the day, Cezar Bittencourt, the lawyer responsible for the defense of Mauro Cid, Bolsonaro's former assistant, announced that his client confessed to having sold jewelry belonging to the Presidency at Bolsonaro's request. Furthermore, Cid plans to claim that he transferred the funds resulting from the sale to the former president.
Cid has been detained since May. He held a significant position of trust during Bolsonaro's presidency.
International cooperation
Moraes also endorsed this Thursday, for the request for collaboration presented by the Federal Police (PF). This request seeks to obtain authorization from the United States to access confidential information of the bank accounts of those involved in the investigation in the context related to jewelry offered by Saudi Arabia in the Florida region.
Investigations
The jewels were offered as gifts to Bolsonaro during his term. According to the TCU, such gifts must be incorporated into the assets of the Union and cannot be traded as personal items. Investigations conducted by the Federal Police revealed that jewelry and gifts granted to Jair Bolsonaro during his term as president began to be traded in the United States from June 2022.
That month, the team led by Mauro Cid made a request to the Historical Documentation Office. They requested the list of watches that had been presented to the Presidency up to that point during the then President's term. On June 2, another team member, an order helper, received a list containing 37 items, including details on the manufacturers of each watch, as requested by Cid.
Four days after this delivery, Mauro Cid removed a set of jewelry from the collection. This set included a Rolex branded watch made of white gold, a ring, cufflinks and an Islamic rosary. These pieces were presented to Bolsonaro during an official trip to Saudi Arabia in October 2019.
On June 8 of that same year, Bolsonaro and Cid traveled to the United States to attend the Summit of the Americas, held in Los Angeles. According to information from the Federal Police, Mauro Cid took the jewelry set with him during the official FAB flight. The PF investigators allege that, unlike the rest of the entourage, he did not return to Brazil, choosing to take the pieces of jewelry to the residence of his father, Mauro Cesar Lourena Cid. The latter, it is worth mentioning, occupied a position in the office of the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex) located in Miami since 2019.
On June 13, Mauro Cid left for Pennsylvania with the intention of selling a white gold Rolex watch and another watch by the renowned brand Patek Philippe. Through the investigation of data stored in the cloud on Mauro Cid's phone, local authorities identified a deposit receipt dated the same day, in the amount of US$ 68,000. This amount is equivalent to approximately BRL 332,000.
A Coaf document, forwarded to the CPI of Coup Actions, revealed financial movements classified as unusual in the accounts belonging to Lourena Cid. The report points out that during the period from February 2022 to May 2023, financial transactions totaling almost BRL 4 million were recorded, encompassing both received and sent amounts.
Second set of jewelry
The Federal Police stated that a new set of official gifts left Brazil a few months later, precisely in December. These gifts were transported on the presidential plane during Bolsonaro's trip to the United States at the end of his term. Messages found on Cid's cell phone suggested that he was carrying a specific suitcase with the intention of delivering it to his father's residence, located in Miami.
According to the investigation by the Federal Police, this suitcase contained two distinct golden sculptures: one representing a tree and the other in the form of a boat. The tree sculpture is similar to the one presented to Jair Bolsonaro in November 2021, during one of his trips to Bahrain.
On January 4, 2023, while Lourena Cid was preparing the luggage, her son Mauro Cid asked his father not to forget to take pictures. The Federal Police emphasized that during the same flight that took place the previous December, it is possible that Mauro Cid took the well-known "kit rose" with him to the United States, a set of men's products from the Chopard brand. This set was originally received by the then Minister of Mines and Energy, Bento Albuquerque, during a trip to Saudi Arabia.
