The Minister 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