Jair Bolsonaro (Pic credit: ANI)
Brazilian federal police have accused former president Jair Bolsonaro of receiving more than 30 million reais ($5 million) without apparent justification between March 2023 and February 2024. According to investigators, Brazil’s financial watchdog suspects a case of money laundering involving Bolsonaro. They allege Bolsonaro received the funds, most of them without clear justification, while recording nearly equivalent debits during the same period, reported AP.Almost 20 million reais ($3.48 million) allegedly came from more than 1.2 million PIX transactions. Investigators said Bolsonaro spent similar amounts on investments, as well as on wire transfers, withdrawals, deposit slips and exchange operations.New documents, sent to the Supreme Court, are added to a 170-page obstruction investigation undertaken by Brazilian federal police. Police report included text exchanges, voice messages, and documents seized during investigations.The disclosures emerged from messages found on Bolsonaro’s telephone. The report said Bolsonaro had prepared a request for asylum addressed to Argentine President Javier Milei, dated February 10, 2024. The former president is already set to face the verdict and sentencing phase in early September in his trial over an alleged coup plot. He could also face a fresh trial if the attorney general decides to pursue obstruction-of-justice charges. The federal police further alleged that Bolsonaro and his son Eduardo used “several maneuvers to dissimulate the origin and destination of financial resources, with the aim of financing and supporting activities of illegal nature of the lawmaker (Eduardo Bolsonaro) living abroad.” Bolsonaro did not immediately comment on the new accusations. He has previously claimed he is the target of political persecution by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s government. His lawyers earlier expressed surprise at the federal police’s move to formally accuse him of obstruction of justice.
