Operation Luke 12:2

Brazilian Supreme Court authorizes breach of former President Bolsonaro's banking and tax secrecy

Justice Moraes intends to verify whether the profit from the sale of official gifts was delivered to Jair Bolsonaro

Translated by: Lucas Peresin

Brasil de Fato | São Paulo (Brazil) |
Former President Jair Bolsonaro and former First Lady Michelle Bolsonaro, in an April 2022 photo - Marcelo Camargo/Agência Brasil

The Justice of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) Alexandre de Moraes authorized, this Thursday, August 17th, the breach of banking and tax secrecy of Jair Bolsonaro (Liberal Party) and his wife, Michelle Bolsonaro, with the aim of identifying whether the money acquired from the sale of jewelry given as gifts to the Brazilian Presidency was passed on to the former president.

Moraes' decision comes on the same day that Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid's lawyer, Cezar Bittencourt, reported that his client will admit to having sold jewelry belonging to the Presidency of the Republic of Brazil at the behest of Bolsonaro and that he would have delivered to the former president, in cash, the money obtained from the sales.

Cid has been in custody since May 3rd, as part of the Federal Police's Operation "Lucas 12:2", which investigates alleged embezzlement of jewelry and other luxury items into the former president's private property. The value obtained from the illegal sale of official gifts may have exceeded US$200,000.

*With information from G1.

 

Edited by: Rodrigo Chagas e Nadini Lopes