Brazil’s Federal Audit Office has ordered former President Jair Bolsonaro to hand over a batch of jewelry he received from the government of Saudi Arabia within five days. Bolsonaro must also hand over a full list of all the gifts he received during his presidency.
In its ruling, the court said Bolsonaro must return the items to the “rightful owner, the presidential palace” within five days.
Under Brazilian law, officials are only allowed to keep donations if they have “extremely personal value, but little monetary value.”
The ruling comes days after the Brazilian police announced an investigation into a previous attempt by Bolsonaro to smuggle jewelry donated to him to Brazil without announcing it.
The Saudi king was to donate the jewelry worth more than 3 million euros to the then Brazilian president and his wife in 2021. Bolsonaro, who has been in the United States since late December, will be called to testify as part of the investigation.
The former Brazilian president had announced through a letter from his lawyer that he would hand over the jewelry to the state.
