The Federal Police (PF) has charged former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) with the crimes of embezzlement, criminal association and money laundering for the illegal sale of jewelry belonging to the Presidency of the Republic, as emerged from complaints by the Federal Police (PF). StateIf convicted of the three crimes, the former chief executive could face 10 to 32 years in prison, according to the country’s current legislation.
The investigations began after a series of reports from the Statepublished in March last year, revealed that allies of the former president attempted to smuggle jewelry kits donated by the Saudi Arabian dictatorship into the country. The investigation later found that a group of people close to Bolsonaro sold parts of the company abroad for illicit enrichment.
In addition to Bolsonaro, 11 other people have been indicted. Among the names cited by the PF are that of Lieutenant Colonel Mauro César Barbosa Cid, considered the former president’s right-hand man during his presidential term, and two former ministers: Fabio Wajngarten, who headed the Secretariat of Social Communications (Secom) and Bento Albuquerque, former head of the Ministry of Mines and Energy.
Lawyer Frederick Wassef, also one of the defendants, claims that he was not ordered to buy Rolexes. On his X account (formerly Twitter), Fabio Wajngarten, also a lawyer and consultant, stated that he had not violated the law and that his accusation was abusive. “My accusation by the Federal Police is based on the following legal affront: Lawyer, I have been indicted because in the exercise of my prerogatives I defended a client, and in the entire investigation there is no evidence against me. To be precise: I have been indicted for the bizarre reason of having respected the Law!”, he wrote.
OR State try to contact the defense of the other defendants.
Money laundry
According to Law No. 9.613/98, the crime of money laundering consists in those who attempt to hide or disguise “the nature, origin, location, disposition, movement or ownership” of material goods.
In practice, the crime occurs when “dirty money”, used or originating from illicit practices, is transformed into “clean money” that does not appear to have an irregular origin.
The law establishes that the penalty for the crime of money laundering varies from three to 10 years of imprisonment. The payment of a fine is also provided for.
Misappropriation
The crime of embezzlement, provided for by Article 312 of the Criminal Code, occurs when a public official takes advantage of his position to appropriate or divert certain assets to his own detriment or that of third parties.
“The public official takes possession of money, valuables or any other movable property, public or private, which he possesses by reason of his office, or disperses it, for his own benefit or that of others,” says the law. The penalty for the crime varies from two to 12 years of imprisonment.
Criminal association
The crime of criminal association, provided for by Article 288-A of the Penal Code, is the one that carries the most severe penalty. The crime occurs when three or more people come together with the purpose of committing one or more illegal acts.
Anyone convicted of this crime faces five to ten years in prison. Brazilian law also provides for the payment of a fine.
Bolsonaro’s sentence could be increased
Criminal law stipulates that sentences should be handed down based on the minimum punishment for the crimes being tried. The additional charges are based on factual criteria that could worsen the former president’s legal situation.
According to Luciano Anderson de Souza, a professor of criminal law at the University of São Paulo (USP), the fact that Bolsonaro is a first-time offender should give him an advantage in the event of a conviction, with a more lenient sentence. However, his status as a former president is an unfavorable factor that can be brought to the jury.
“The fact that a person commits a crime in his capacity as President of the Republic or any other prominent position in the administration is a consideration that must be taken unfavorably. We also foresee the aggravation of the penalty for the person who occupies a position in abuse of power or violation inherent to the position, office, ministry or profession”, says Luciano.
According to the expert, the courts could also test Bolsonaro’s conviction in the jewelry case with information from other investigations targeting Bolsonaro. The former president is a central figure in eight other investigations, including one into a coup attempt after the 2022 elections.
“The Court may eventually cross-check the investigations if there is some connection. Let’s imagine the hypothesis that the possible misappropriation serves to finance, presumably, an attempted coup d’état or something of the sort. Without a shadow of a doubt there is a reason to verify this information and also, in this case, to corroborate the existence of a criminal association”, explains the expert.
“Dirty Record”
If Bolsonaro is convicted in the jewelry case, he will be ineligible for a longer period than initially defined in the proceedings that took place at the TSE, because he will run afoul of Complementary Law 64/1990, known as the Ineligibility Law. “With a final and unappealable decision on crimes such as embezzlement, money laundering and criminal association, the former president runs afoul of the Ineligibility Law. Specifically, these situations are provided for in Article 1,” explains Rodrigo Cândido Nunes, a lawyer specializing in electoral law with operations in the Federal District.
According to the law, the law applies to those who “are convicted, by a final and unappealable decision or issued by a collegiate judicial body, from the moment of conviction until the expiration of the eight-year term after having served the sentence”.
In this case, since processing an action is not quick – there are resources, for example – Bolsonaro could be banned from participating in the 2030 presidential elections. “In this case, although ineligibility is not cumulative, the former president becomes ineligible subsequently exceeding the period of eight years from his two convictions that led to his ineligibility,” Nunes said.
Legal steps
The PF’s final report on the jewelry case will be submitted to the Federal Supreme Court (STF). The procedure requires the case rapporteur, Minister Alexandre de Moraes, to forward the document to the Federal Public Prosecutor.
The Attorney General’s Office (PGR) has 15 days to decide whether charges should be filed against the suspects. The MPF will decide whether to file a formal charge with the Court, which may lead to the opening of criminal proceedings. The Public Prosecutor’s Office may also request further investigation or even dismiss the case.
Therefore, the PF’s accusation does not mean that the former president is guilty of appropriation and attempt to sell the jewelry. Only if the court accepts the complaint will Bolsonaro become a defendant in the trial that will judge the crimes. At this stage, the prosecution and defense witnesses will be heard, as well as the position of the deputy and the defendant, and only then will the case be judged.
Source: Terra
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