Thread by @ZachLowy

Ronaldinho and his brother have been arrested for entering Paraguay with fake passports.

His fake passport shows his correct name, birthplace, and birthdate, but it falsely suggests that he’s a naturalized Paragauay citizen. [@Santula]

Ronaldinho had his passport confiscated by the Brazilian government in November 2018 for building a sugar mill with a fishing platform and a pier on Lake Guaíba without permission.

After failing to pay the $2.3m ordered by the government, he had his passport confiscated.

Ronaldinho and his brother, who helped construct the mill, were taken to court, and it was found that Ronaldinho only had $6.59 in his bank account.

For this reason, he was unable to pay the fine, thus, unable to recover his passport, thus, unable to leave Brazil.

Ronaldinho arrived in Asunción today for charity work with “La Fundación Angelical,” which provides medical assistance to low-income children.

He came to spread awareness about a mobile hospital that provides free medical assistance for these kids. lanacion.com.py/pais/2020/03/0…

The dumbest part of all this? As my colleague @RobertoRojas97 mentions, Brazilian citizens don’t even need passports to enter Paraguay.

Due to their status as a Mercosur country, Brazilian citizens can enter Paraguay with a simple Brazilian identity card.

The prosecutors have ordered Ronaldinho to remain in police custody at the hotel for the night.

Tomorrow, he will be transferred to the prosecutor’s office, along with his brother, to testify.

Another example of cruel irony tonight:

Under Jair Bolsonaro’s direction, Ronaldinho was named as Brazil’s new Tourism Ambassador in September.

He helped promote the government’s “Rei do Rolê” initiative, which encouraged tourists to submit their videos about visiting Brazil.

Ronaldinho and his brother left São Paulo today providing Brazilian documentation, but arrived at Asunción with Brazilian papers.

The police received the allegation of fake papers at the airport, but decided not to act at first.uol.com.br/esporte/futebo…

After the main public events of the day were completed, the police went to the hotel they were staying at and detained Ronaldinho and his brother.

They also detained Wilmondes Sousa Lira, who provided them with fake documentation

They will testify at 8 a.m. local time tomorrow.

The cruelest irony of this entire night, for me, is this:

Ronaldinho went to Paraguay to promote his biography, “Gênio em vida,” or “Genius in life.”

That’s the heartbreaking story of Ronaldinho: a genius on the pitch ruined by his career-debilitating decisions off the pitch.

According to Paraguay’s Interior Minister Euclides Acevedo, Ronaldinho applied for the fake passport a month ago.

Both Ronaldinho and his brother are cooperating with the authorities and will testify tomorrow morning.

Some additional photos from the investigation. [@nicolithitx]

Article 246 of Paraguay’s penal code states:

“Anyone who produces or uses an unauthentic documentation with the intention of tricking with legal authorities will be punished with a custodial sentence up to 5 or with a fine.”

Of course, if you’re the Paraguayan police, you can’t arrest Ronaldinho without getting a picture with Ronaldinho first.

Both Ronaldinho and his brother said that they were given Paraguayan documents as soon as they got off the plane "as a gift."

So basically, their story is that Wilmondes Sousa Lira tricked them into using fake passports.

Despite having his Brazilian and Spanish passports confiscated in 2018, Ronaldinho managed to go on a ‘world tour.’

He went to Nairobi to help promote a Kenyan casino, but he also travelled to Japan, France and Morocco.

After cooperating with police, Ronaldinho was freed today on the impression that he had been tricked by others.

While Ronaldinho has since been liberated, two women have been arrested in conjunction with the investigation: María Isabel Gayoso and Esperanza Apolonia Caballero.