Brazilian federal prosecutors have filed charges against Jair Renan Bolsonaro, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, for crimes including money laundering, misrepresentation and the presentation of fraudulent documents, Brazilian newspaper O Globo reported Wednesday.
Jair Renan, whose father served as the 38th president of Brazil from 2019-2022, was charged alongside his business partner, Maciel Alves. The pair have been accused of fraudulent misrepresentation, the use of false documents, and money laundering in their attempt to secure a bank loan.
Brazilian police initially launched an investigation into the former president’s son and Alves after they were allegedly found to be inflating the revenues of one of Jair Renan’s companies, Bolsonaro Jr. Eventos e Mídia. The revenue statement in question amounted to 4.6M Brazilian Reals (approximately $924.883).
Investigators stated in their final report:
There is no doubt that the billing statements presented to the bank are false, for several aspects, both materially due to the false signatures of the Accounting Technician, who was re-examined and who vehemently denied having made the entries, and ideological, insofar as the legal representative of the company RB Eventos e Mídia had untrue information included in the private documents consistent with the fallacious annual revenues.
Jair Renan testified that he did not recognize the signatures on the paperwork, though an expert, witnesses and photographic evidence from his banking app debunked his testimony.
Agência Brasil, the South American country’s national public news agency, reported that Brazilian prosecutors have submitted a statement in the case and are currently waiting for a court to accept the charges. Once the charges have been accepted, a criminal action will begin.
Lawyers for both parties have refrained from commenting on the charges filed, though Admar Gonzaga, the lawyer representing Jair Renan, on Wednesday criticized what he called “leaks.” Gonzaga insisted that these are harmful to the “defense, due process, presumption of innocence and, therefore, the image of those who have the right to defend themselves.”
The charges against Jair Renan are the latest in a series of legal battles for the Bolsonaro family. Renan’s father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, is currently under fire for allegedly falsifying COVID-19 vaccination data to allow his family to travel during the height of the pandemic. The former president was also previously subject to an investigation, led by the Minister of Justice and Public Security, in January 2023 for allegedly committing genocide against the Indigenous Yanomami people in the Amazon.
Brazilian police and federal prosecutors have confirmed that the details of the case will remain confidential and that no further details will be provided.
