MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Bolsonaro's presidential credit card billed pet food and cosmetics

None of the purchases were illegal, but the corporate card should be restricted to government critical items, according to Brazilian media

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been reported to have used his corporate credit card for expenses above US$ 5 million during his four years in office on items that include ice cream and pet food.

Bolsonaro spent R$ 27.6 million (about US$ 5.4 million) between 2019 and 2022 on luxury hotels, restaurants, bakeries, ice cream parlors, household, and fishing items, pet food, and cosmetics, according to the data agency “Fiquen Sabendo” specialized in the Access to Information law.

The retired Army captain is currently in the US state of Florida, where he flew before the end of his presidential term, to avoid participating in Luiz Inàcio Lula Da Silva's inauguration on Jan. 1.

He has denied any involvement in last Sunday's riots in which hundreds of his followers stormed the National Congress, the presidential palace, and the Supreme Court headquarters in Brasilia.

Bolsonaro disbursed R$ 13.7 million reais (US$2.6 million) in hotels. In the Ferraretto Hotel alone, in the seaside resort of Guarujá, on the São Paulo coast, he spent US$ 287,000. There, the former president used to spend periods of rest.

His food expenses amounted to R$ 10.2 million (slightly over US$ 2 million), including Ice cream worth R$ 8,600 (US$ 1690) and bakeries expenses worth R$ 581,000 (US$ 114,000).

According to local media, the largest expenditure made in a single day was a R$ 109,266 (US$ 21,400) bill at the modest Sabor de Casa Delivery restaurant in Boa Vista, in the state of Roraima, bordering Bolivia, on October 26, 2021, when he was checking on a group of Venezuelan refugees, with expenses for R$ 28,000 (US$ 5500) and 14,000 (US$ 2750) at the same venue in September of that year.

On 20 occasions Bolsonaro made significant expenditures in one of the subsidiaries of the Carioca bakery Santa Marta with bills ranging from R$ 880 reais (US$ 173) to R$ 55,000 (US$ 10,800), averaging R$ 18,000 (US$ 3500). The store billed a total of R$ 362,000 reais (US$ 71,000) to the corporate card of the presidency.

According to Brazilian media reports, none of the purchases are per se illegal, although the president's corporate credit card should be restricted to fundamental government actions. All the ice cream shops are located in Brasília, as well as the 11 cosmetics stores. Other disbursements included US$ 1,800 worth of pet food, in addition to hunting and fishing items.