Ronaldinho and his brother, Roberto De Assis Moriera 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 citizen of Paraguay.
The former Barcelona star 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 $8.5m ordered by the government, his international Passport was confiscated.
Ronaldinho and his brother, who helped construct the mill, were taken to court, and it was discovered by the authorities that Ronaldinho only had $6.59 in his bank account which led to a piece of news that made the rounds that the world cup winner was bankrupt.
For this reason, he was unable to pay the fine, thus, unable to recover his passport and as a consequence, was 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 went to spread awareness about a mobile hospital that provides free medical assistance for these kids.
It is very interesting to note that Brazilian citizens don’t even need passports to enter Paraguay as a result of their status as a Mercosur country, Brazilian citizens can enter Paraguay with a simple Brazilian identity card. The question would then be, why did the two time Ballon D’or winner have to get a fake passport when he did not need it in the first place?
The prosecutors have ordered Ronaldinho to remain in police custody at the hotel for the night. m Tomorrow, he will be transferred to the prosecutor’s office, along with his brother, to testify.
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.
After the main public events of the day were completed, the police went to the hotel they were staying, searched the suite and several documents, identity cards and Paraguayan passports with the names of Ronaldinho and his brother were found. They then detained Ronaldinho and his brother.
They also detained Wilmondes Sousa Lira, who provided them with fake documentation.
According to Paraguay’s Interior Minister Euclides Acevedo, Ronaldinho applied for the fake passport a month ago.
They will testify at 8 a.m. local time tomorrow.
Ronaldinho went to Paraguay to promote his biography, “Gênio em Vida,” or “Genius in life.”
Both Ronaldinho and his brother are said to be cooperating with the authorities and will testify tomorrow morning.