After the jewelry case, the MP proposes rules for gifts from the authorities to PL

Federal MP Pedro Paulo Carvalho (PSD-RJ) introduced a bill informally titled “Lei Joias da Arabia” in the Chamber of Deputies this week, which regulates the receipt of gifts by Brazilian authorities.

The move comes after the Estadao’s discovery of jewelry given to the family of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) by the Saudi Arabian government and repeated attempts by the Federal Revenue Service to return the seized items. Because the changes to the criminal code are not retroactive, Bolsonaro’s family will be immune from the consequences of the new law.

Pedro Paulo told reporters this morning that the project comes to fill a gap in the rules for receiving these types of gifts from the Brazilian authorities. He told reporters at the 17th Sports Management Seminar held at the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) headquarters in Rio.

“There is no law about it. We do not make this division (in the rules for goods entering the country). The USA does it, England does it, even Argentina, and Brazil has nothing to specify. You have infra-legal regulations (CGU and TCU) that try to cover the problem in some way. I proposed a simple law, kind of obvious,” said the congressman.

According to the draft, gifts to the authorities begin to respect the rules applied to civilians, that is, the restriction of tax-free entry of goods worth $ 1,000, the imposition and escalation of fines for disrespecting the authority, which can lead to a criminal offense, consider cases such as the case of former president Jair Bolsonaro , in which Pedro Paulo sees cases of harassment and influence peddling.

“(Pij) can reach up to imprisonment. I put some gradation because this episode (of Bolsonaro) has several violations that deserve a criminal classification, for example, the attempt to harass public officials, revenue agents, then “carteirada”, the use of influence that (currently) was aimed at . 1st lady. So, we propose a ceiling value so that we don’t get stuck in a subjective approach and with predicted and gradual sanctions,” he explains.

In the text, accepting a gift, toast, or hospitality outside of the law would be punishable by 2 to 12 years and a fine, in addition to administrative consequences (impropriety, loss of office, civil fine, etc.). .). And third parties who will try to remove the entanglement of the product or let it out of the law should also be punished if the gift is preserved.

Asked about the viability of the development and approval in Congress, Pedro Paulo said that he was still starting the articulation and that he would talk to Mayor Artur Lira (PP-AL). The MP suggested that one way would be to enact a similar law in public response to the case, and that this could serve to prevent the episode from escalating, which could even trigger a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (PCI). In this context, members of the opposition may enter the project to avoid the CPI.

“In the chamber with about 13,000 bills, everything depends on political will. If the president of the chamber understands that it should be in the legislation, it can be solved in one day, one hour. The presentation of the project goes a long way in drawing attention to this empty space in the law, the need for better developed rules.

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