Former Barcelona and AC Milan forward Ronaldinho and his brother were taken into custody for allegedly attempting to enter the country with ‘adulterated’ documents.
Ronaldinho has spent the night in a police cell after being dramatically arrested following a U-turn by Paraguayan prosecutors over his use of an adulterated passport.
The former Barcelona and AC Milan star was told on Thursday after an eight-hour grilling that he would not face trial for entering the country with a falsified Paraguayan passport showing he was a naturalised citizen.
But his hopes of returning home a free man were frustrated last night when prosecuti
A Paraguayan judge ordered Brazilian football legend Ronaldinho detained behind bars on Saturday after being arrested and handcuffed for entering Paraguay on a fake passport.
The two-time world player of the year and his brother Roberto, who was detained with him, had spent the night in the headquarters of the Specialized Police Group in the capital city.
The pair appeared Saturday morning before Judge Clara Ruiz Diaz at the Palace of Justice.
Prosecutor Osmar Legal said Ronaldinho — his full name is Ronaldo de Assis Moreira — and his brother were being charged with using false official documents, and he requested that they be held in preventive detention.
The judge agreed. “They committed a serious act that threatens the state,” she said, and ordered them held.
A lawyer for the brothers, Tarek Tuma, called the judge’s decision “irrational (and) arbitrary” and demanded that the judge recuse herself.
Ronaldinho was the star of Brazil’s 2002 world championship team; he played professionally for teams including Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan and Barcelona, and was considered one of the greatest players of all time.
He spent Friday night in an administrative office in police headquarters that had been converted to serve as a cell, said Commissioner Blas Vera.
Ronaldinho, winner of the prestigious Ballon d’Or prize in 2005, was allowed visitors — one brought him blankets and bedding — and was even permitted to order a late dinner from a fast-food chain.
The incident began on Wednesday when the brothers arrived at the Asuncion international airport, coming from Brazil, and showed their passports to immigration police, who did not immediately spot the problem.
But hours later, when the passports were determined to be fake, investigators raided the room Ronaldinho was staying in and seized the brothers’ identity cards and passports.
Ronaldinho said the documents had been given him by people who had invited him to attend conferences sponsored by charities working with disadvantaged children.
The soccer legend was also scheduled to open a casino belonging to a Brazilian businessman.
Brazilian authorities revoked Ronaldinho’s passport in late 2018 after he failed to pay a $2.5 million fine for building a pier in a protected lake, Brazilian media reported.
A representative of Ronaldinho, Wilmondes Sousa Lira, who is Brazilian, was charged with producing and using false documents as well as criminal association and was ordered held in the Tacumbu prison.
Two Paraguayan women, Maria Isabel Gayoso and Esperanza Apolonia Caballero, were charged with abuse of identity documents and criminal association.
Prosecutors said they had provided the fake documents to the Brazilians. They were placed under house arrest.
on chiefs reversed an earlier decision to offer him a plea bargain deal and police formally arrested him and his brother Roberto at the Sheraton Hotel in the capital Asuncion.
They spent the night in a police cell and now face a second quiz expected to take place today.
In a new development to the rollercoaster case a prosecutor specialising in financial crimes was brought into the ongoing probe, sparking local speculation the investigation would now be widened to look into possible money laundering.
A Brazilian businessman named as Wilmondes Sousa Lira who has been accused of providing Ronaldinho and his brother with the adulterated passports they used to get into Paraguay, was arrested on Wednesday and has been remanded in prison.
Two Paraguayan women thought to be the legitimate owners of the passports modified to show the former footballer and his brother as the holders, were also held.
Ronaldinho was arrested after a judge refused to rubber-stamp the deal announced by prosecutors on Thursday, which involved the Brazilian co-operating with authorities and admitting to using an adulterated passport to get into Paraguay to escape trial and ‘get off’ with a fine.
He now faces an extended period of time on remand in prison if the courts decide he is a flight risk and decide against bailing him.
A spokesman for Paraguay’s General Attorney’s Office, confirming the prosecution U-turn in a statement, said last night/on Friday night: “Paraguay’s General Attorney’s Office has rectified its position.
