Paraguayan Government Employees Investigated in Ronaldinho Case

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Investigators from Paraguay’s National Anti-Corruption Secretariat have been assigned to determine the potential involvement of officials and employees of the country’s Ministry of the Interior in granting tampered documents to Brazilian former soccer player Ronaldinho Gaúcho; his brother and entrepreneur, Roberto de Assis Moreira; and to Brazilian entrepreneur Wilmondes Sousa Lira, Ronaldinho’s representative in Paraguay.

In a note, the Ministry reported that the team is already “in place” and will “inquire” the employees about anything that may be related to the case. The General Department of Migration, of the Ministry of the Interior, and the Identification Department of the Paraguayan National Police will also be the target of investigations, initially scheduled to run for 60 days.

“We have opened the doors [of the ministry] in the belief that the work will be thorough, sustainable and with results that we think will renew what we have wanted for a long time, which is institutionalism through transparency,” said Minister Euclides Acevedo.

The measure was announced on the same day that Paraguayan President Mário Abdo Benitez told Paraguayan journalists that he had ordered Acevedo to investigate the facts “thoroughly”.

House arrest denied

Yesterday, March 10th, Judge Gustavo Amarilla denied the defense’s request for Ronaldinho and Assis to be transferred to a residence in Paraguay designated by the defense. According to ABC Color, the Brazilians have not proved that they own a property in the country that would serve as a guarantee for bail. Furthermore, there is a risk that the two will leave Paraguay before the investigation is completed, which could last up to six months.

The Prosecutor’s Office has ordered the arrest of three public officials named in the investigation. José Gustavo Molinas, Shirley Delvalle and Rosa Carolina Miranda work at the National Civil Aeronautics Department (DINAC) and the General Migration Department.

Prosecutors also called for the arrest of entrepreneur Dalia Angélica López Troche, who is suspected of being part of a “structured criminal organization to ease the preparation and use of identity documents and passports with forged content, involving civil servants and private company employees”.

According to the Prosecutor’s Office (MP), the scheme was used to allow those involved to obtain advantages “generating legal business and equity benefits”.

It was Dalia who obtained the passports and ID cards the National Police originally issued to María Isabel Gayoso and Esperanza Apolonia Caballero Coronil, which were later doctored by including the names of Ronaldinho and his brother, presented as Paraguayan naturalized citizens, according to the MP. María Isabel and Esperanza Apolonia have also been arrested and are the target of investigations.

Ronaldinho and his brother claim that the documents were offered to them, without explaining why. As for Dalia, who is on the run, the defense claims the Brazilians were aware that passports and ID cards were being produced in their names.

Source: Agência Brasil