The Brazilian authorities have ordered a police investigation into reports that government staff under the former President, Jair Bolsonaro, tried to bring millions of dollars worth of jewellery into the country “without complying with legal procedures,” as a gift from the Saudi Crow Prince Mohammed bin Salaman (MBS).
Customs officials confiscated the jewellery from the backpack of a government staffer returning from Saudi Arabia in October 2021, while Bolsonaro was still in office.
The backpack contained a diamond necklace, a ring, a watch and earrings designed by Chopard, a luxury Swiss jeweller.
Bolsonaro’s former Energy Minister Bento Albuquerque confirmed over the weekend that his delegation brought the items into the country as a gift from the Saudi government to Bolsonaro and his wife, Michelle, without declaring them to customs agents.
According to the Brazilian reports, another member of Albuquerque’s delegation carried a second package of Chopard jewellery gifted by Saudi Arabia, including a pen, cufflinks, a ring and a rosary. The paper states that this batch of luxury items was not discovered by authorities.
Brazil’s Federal Revenue Service also announced that it would investigate whether the transport of the second package of jewellery violated customs laws.
Bolsonaro’s former Energy Minister Bento Albuquerque confirmed over the weekend that his delegation brought the items into the country — now run by leftist leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva — as a gift from the Saudi government to Bolsonaro and his wife, Michelle, without declaring them to customs agents.
This huge spending, while Saudi Arabia’s unemployment and poverty rate continue to rise, sparks widespread controversy in the Kingdom.
Based on the estimates of the General Authority for Statistics’ Labor Force Survey, the unemployment rate of Saudis reached 9.9% in Q3/2022, a slight increase of 0.2 percentage points (pp) compared to Q2/2022.
The overall unemployment rate in Saudi Arabia (for Saudis and non-Saudis) was 5.8% in Q3/2022, unchanged from last quarter and changed from a year ago.
Saudi Arabia is already becoming known for its megaprojects, such as the cities of Neom and The Line.
Over the past year, MBS has directed more resources toward what he calls “megaprojects,” including luxury seaside resorts and yachting marinas.
One of the largest super yachts in the world, Serene, is currently owed by the Saudi Crown Prince with a cost of $320 million.
With his rise in the kingdom’s pecking order to presumptive heir to the throne, he became not only the de facto political leader of the petro-state but the unrivaled billionaire boss of a sprawling family firm with more money than almost any other dynasty on the planet.
The Al Sauds number some 15,000, according to estimates by political analysts and academics, from infants to the elderly. Their collective fortune is estimated at more than $100 billion in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, enough to rank fourth among the world’s richest families.
