Football icon Ronaldinho Gaúcho to remain in Paraguay prison after judge declines his plea for house arrest
Brazilian football icon Ronaldinho Gaúcho is set to remain in a maximum-security prison in Paraguay after a judge on Tuesday rejected his lawyer’s plea for him to be released on bail or stressed to a house arrest.
According to Paraguay court, the 39-year-old World Cup winner Ronaldinho together with his brother Roberto who was arrested on Friday for having fake Paraguayan passports must remain in jail as investigations continue.
Besides, three government officials were arrested Tuesday for their role in the scandal, authorities also accused two women of providing their passports in the scheme.
A Judge identified as Gustavo Amarilla who based his decision on missing legal documents on the property, located on 27 acres of land south of the capital, Asunción rejected the Ronaldinho lawyer’s request for his conditional release or house arrest stating that the soccer legend was a flight risk.
Meanwhile, Ronaldinho had offered to put up property worth $800, 000 as collateral in a bid to seek permission to be placed under house arrest.
However, the prosecutors who alleged implied that Ronaldinho and Assis had committed other crimes also cited the seriousness of the case and the discovery of new evidence, as well as the involvement of public officials and business people who facilitated Ronaldinho’s arrival in Paraguay.
Those factors meant the former footballer needed to be kept in Asuncion “so that there is no obstruction to the investigation,” the Judge mentioned before acknowledging that the measures taken against the two brothers were harsh but inevitable because it is his job to ensure effective investigations.
The judge further stated that the property offered in a request for house arrest was also only valued at $750,000 to $800,000 an amount he regarded as little compared to expenses incurred.
“It’s a tiny amount given the economic solvency of one of the” accused, he said.
Meanwhile, Ronaldinho Brazilian lawyer Sergio Queiroz has said the brothers were given the Paraguayan passports “to facilitate the possibility of doing business” in Paraguay.
“Ronaldinho did not commit a crime because he did not know that the passport they gave him was faked,” he said.
The administrator of the charity that invited Ronaldinho, Dalia Lopez, has admitted requesting the passports but said she didn’t know they were forged.
Ronaldinho and his brother are spending the fifth day in a police cell in Asuncion.
They arrived in Asuncion from Brazil on Wednesday and showed their passports to immigration police, who did not immediately notice any problem with the documents.
Hours later, when the passports were determined to be fake, investigators raided the football star’s hotel room and seized the brothers’ identity cards and travel documents.
