This archive report was first published on 25 August 2020.
Former Brazilian football star Ronaldinho has been released from detention in Paraguay after five months, with a judge ordering him to pay $90,000 in damages.
On August 24, 2020, a judge in Paraguay released Ronaldinho, 40, and his brother, who had been held for a month in jail and another four months under house arrest in a hotel in the capital, Asuncion.
The brothers arrived in Paraguay on March 4, 2020, with Ronaldinho, the 2005 Ballon d'Or winner, due to take part in an event in support of disadvantaged children.
However, two days later, the pair were taken into police custody when investigators raided their hotel following the discovery they had fake documents.
Prosecutors said they did not believe Ronaldinho took part in the plan to manufacture the fake Paraguayan passports but believed his brother was aware that the passports were false.
“They flagrantly used a public document containing false content,” said Marcelo Pecci, one of the public prosecutors, who said it was a “very serious” offense.
Before Monday's trial, the public prosecutor said that Ronaldinho displayed no “personal characteristics or criminal behavior that… would put society at risk.”
The defense issued a statement insisting on the innocence of both brothers, saying “the people they trusted deceived them vilely.”
After being held in a police station in Asuncion, where Ronaldinho celebrated his 40th birthday on March 21, 2020, the two men had been under house arrest in a luxury hotel, on bail of $1.6 million.
The investigation has since expanded into a case of possible money laundering and criminal association.
Some 18 people have been arrested in connection with the case, most of them immigration officials or police officers.
Ronaldinho, considered one of the greatest footballers of all time, was crucial in Brazil’s 2002 World Cup win.
