Paraguayan woman jailed in Ronaldinho fake passport scandal

ASUNCION, Paraguay - A Paraguayan woman accused of supplying Ronaldinho with a forged passport, over which the former Brazil star spent five months in detention, was jailed on Monday in her South American country.

Dalia Lopez, 55, was on the run for six years before being captured in the capital Asuncion on April 2.

She has been in police custody ever since.

On Monday, a judge declared her to be a flight risk and ordered that she be placed in pre-trial detention in a women’s prison in the town of Emboscada, around 35 kilometres (22 miles) from Asuncion.

Lopez is accused of criminal association for allegedly providing Ronaldo de Assis Moreira, or Ronaldinho, and his brother and agent Roberto de Assis Moreira with forged documents. It is not clear why they wanted them.

Lopez had arranged for Ronaldinho to visit Paraguay in March 2020 for a charity event in support of disadvantaged children.

Two days after arriving in Paraguay, the former World Cup winner and his brother were arrested for travelling on fake Paraguayan passports, with fake ID cards.

They spent nearly one month in custody and another four under house arrest in an Asuncion hotel, on bail of US$1.6 million.

It is still unclear why they agreed to travel on fake passports, since Brazilians can enter Paraguay without a passport, using only their national ID.

So far, 18 people have been charged in the case.