Bolsonaro's ex-aide reportedly admits to selling official gifts for ex-president: Report

Brazilian Army Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid, who was the aide of former president Jair Bolsonaro, has told police that after selling two luxury watches the ex-president had received as official gifts, he gave him tens of thousands of dollars, The Guardian reported.

Last month, police raided the homes of Bolsonaro allies who were accused of reselling gifts including jewellery from foreign dignitaries for the "illicit enrichment of" the former president.

The investigators earlier said that Cid, one of the accused, mentioned in an audio message that "25,000 dollars in cash" would be intended for the ex-president after the sale of certain goods.

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Cid was in prison for four months after being sent to jail in May over falsification of coronavirus vaccination certificates. Reports alleged that he forged Bolsonaro's vaccination cards in order to travel together to the United States after his electoral defeat.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court of the nation authorised a cooperation deal between Cid and the country's Federal Police and last week, Cid was released on parole from the military prison in Brasília. He was moved to a housing development for the military.

The report mentioned that the deal apparently needs Cid to give details regarding all the suspected crimes committed when Bolsonaro was in office, which included an alleged coup plot.

Media says that just before he was released, Cid gave a statement to federal investigators, admitting selling a diamond-set Rolex and a Patek Philippe wristwatch on behalf of the ex-president. The watches were gifts from Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

According to an explosive front-page report in Veja, Brazil’s most-read weekly news magazine, on Friday (September 15), "Was the sale immoral? Perhaps. But we didn't think it was illegal," claimed Cid.

Bolsonaro is accused of forging an election denial movement that culminated with the Jan. 8 storming of government buildings in Brasilia by thousands of his supporters. He has already been ruled politically ineligible until 2030 by Brazil's federal electoral court.

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In Saturday's decision, seen by Reuters, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ruled that Cid fulfilled the criteria for a cooperation agreement, and released him from jail. He will need to use an ankle tag, cannot leave the country, and will need to present himself to authorities once a week, among other restrictive measures.

Any failure to comply with those measures would land him back in jail, the decision states.

(With inputs from agencies)

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