- Ronaldinho and his brother were arrested by the Paraguayan authorities in possession of a false passport.
- The former PSG player was to carry out a promotional tour of his book in the country.
- Ronnie had his Brazilian passport withdrawn in late 2018 after problems with the law.
Ronaldinho and his brother are still imprisoned in Paraguay after their arrest on Thursday March 5 for possession and use of false passports. Their lawyer however tries since Monday to obtain before the Paraguayan justice the fast holding of a hearing to plead the provisional release of his clients.
According to several sources close to the file, the defense of the Brazilians is fighting for a hearing to take place on Tuesday in a court in the Paraguayan capital so that the release of the 39-year-old former player and his elder is requested.
The Brazilian press has reported that the Minister of Justice of Brazil, Sergio Moro, contacted the Paraguayan authorities for clarification. Mr. Moro "simply called to inquire about this matter because (...) the Brazilian government is following the matter," said an official from the Paraguayan Ministry of Justice.
A promotional tour that makes pshit ...
The 2005 Ballon d'Or arrived on Wednesday with his brother in Asuncion to promote a book and participate in various charitable operations, including the initiative of a foundation, Fraternidad Angelical, which helps poor children .
The two men showed their passports to the immigration police, who did not immediately find any discrepancies. Paraguayan police then searched the hotel where the two men were staying, and investigators discovered false passports made in Asuncion a few months ago, according to Interior Minister Euclides Acevedo.
The defense of the former player has blamed the organization of the trip to Paraguay on the Fraternidad Angelical foundation, whose president Dalia Lopez is the subject of an arrest warrant. According to Sergio Queiroz, the champion's Brazilian lawyer, the passports were offered by the foundation to Ronaldinho to "facilitate the possibility of doing business" in the country. "Ronaldinho did not commit any crime because he did not know that the passport given to him was a fake," said the lawyer on Sunday.
Ronnie, passportless since 2018
Marcos Estigarribia, Dalia Lopez's lawyer, said that his client had asked intermediaries to take steps to obtain authentic passports at the request of the two brothers who wanted to "do business in Paraguay".
But she "never suspected that intermediaries dealing with the government would hand over passports containing false information," added the lawyer, who said that the player and his brother had paid $ 5,000 to "facilitate the deal". of passports.
#Ronaldinho is on the verge of bankruptcy ...
A true football legend, Ronaldinho would be ruined. Worse, Brazilian justice should soon seize his passport after a default on a house he would have built on a protected area. # Foot pic.twitter.com/fgJ6Q1W3MV
Besides Ronaldinho and his brother, a Brazilian entrepreneur Wilmondes Sousa and two Paraguayans were arrested. The scandal also led to the resignation of the national director of migration, Alexis Penayo.
As a reminder, Brazilian justice deprived Ronaldinho of a passport at the end of 2018, following his conviction of a fine of 2.5 million dollars (around 2.25 million euros), which he never paid, for having builds a jetty without authorization at the edge of a lake in a protected area according to the Brazilian media.
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Former star Ronaldinho remanded in custody for using false passport
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