Police in Brazil raided the home of embattled ex-president Jair Bolsonaro‘s youngest son Thursday in a money-laundering investigation, his lawyer said.
Officers searched 25-year-old Jair Renan Bolsonaro’s residence in Balneario Camboriu, in the southern state of Santa Catarina, and seized a cell phone, hard drive and notebooks, his lawyer, Admar Gonzaga, said in a statement.
Jair Renan, who works as a staffer for a federal senator from Santa Catarina, was “surprised” by the raid, Gonzaga said.
“He was not taken for questioning or subject to any other measures,” he added.
The operation also targeted Jair Renan’s shooting instructor, Maciel Carvalho, who is the main suspect in the investigation, according to Brazilian media reports.
Police also carried out raids in the capital, Brasilia. Authorities said they are investigating allegations of larceny, forgery, tax evasion and money-laundering in connection with suspected “ghost” companies.
Jair Renan previously faced a police investigation in 2021, when officers questioned him over alleged bribes by business executives seeking government contracts.
Far-right ex-president Bolsonaro, 68, has also faced legal headaches, as have his three other sons, all politicians.
In July, electoral authorities barred the former leader from running for public office for eight years over his unproven allegations of fraud in Brazil’s voting system.
He also faces investigations over the alleged embezzlement of luxury jewelry and other expensive official gifts from foreign governments during his presidency (2019-2022), as well as riots by supporters who refused to accept his 2022 election defeat to leftist successor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
