Nelson Piquet had more than 9,000 items received by Bolsonaro, including two sets of jewelry that the former president received from the Saudi Arabian regime. Piquet was the main individual donor of Bolsonaro’s defeated campaign in 2022. The former pilot’s company earned R$ 6 million in a contract signed without bidding with the former government
Nelson Piquet (JOE KLAMAR/AFP)
Former Formula 1 driver Nelson Piquet keeps, in a shed on his property, 166 boxes with the most varied types of objects and another nine with honors received by former President Jair Bolsonaro. According to columnist Bela Megale, from the newspaper The globethe more than 9,000 items received as a gift by Bolsonaro during the presidential term occupy 195 cubic meters of space borrowed by the three-time world champion.
It was in that same shed at Piquet’s farm, located in one of the most exclusive areas of Brasília, that the two sets of jewelry that Bolsonaro received from the Saudi Arabian regime and which were delivered to Caixa Econômica Federal were located. The determination was given by the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU).
According to the columnist, there are gifts given by individuals, companies and authorities from various countries. Among them, Uruguay, Poland, Paraguay, South Korea, Ecuador, Switzerland, Colombia, Taiwan, Israel, Germany, Italy, Argentina and China.
Last week Bolsonaro delivered a third gift kit given by the government of Saudi Arabia. The items, such as jewelry, diamonds and watches, returned to the Union, so far, add up to around R$ 16.5 million. The determination was given by the Federal Court of Auditors following a series of reports showed that Bolsonaro had improperly appropriated gifts that should remain in the public collection because they were given to him as the highest representative of Brazil.
Supporter and main donor, as an individual, of Bolsonaro’s re-election campaign, the former pilot houses valuable items received by the former president at Piquet Farm, as revealed by the newspaper O Estado de S.Paulo. In addition to donating R$501,000 to Bolsonaro’s campaign, Piquet even recorded a video in which he wished death for Lula following his friend lost his reelection.
A former pilot’s company earned more than BRL 6 million in a contract signed, without bidding, in 2019, with the National Institute of Meteorology, an agency linked to the Ministry of Agriculture.
Recently, the former driver lent an armored Porsche to Jair Bolsonaro following the Lula government refused to provide the former president with a reinforced security vehicle. Bolsonaro has been driving this luxury vehicle around Brasília following returning from the United States, where he spent three months. In yet another sign of proximity between the two, Bolsonaro traveled last week to Angra dos Reis (RJ), in a friend’s jet. In the parade on September 7, 2021, the three-time champion drove Bolsonaro in the presidential Rolls-Royce along the Esplanada dos Ministérios.
At the end of last month, Piquet was sentenced to pay an amount of approximately R$ 5 million in moral damages to entities that combat racism and LGBTphobia for racist comments once morest the English driver Lewis Hamilton, in addition to a series of fines for statements of racist and homophobic content uttered since 2016.
