Brazilian football phenom Ronaldinho has been caught with an “altered” passport in Paraguay, the country’s Interior Ministry has confirmed. The star, along with his brother, is now being held by police at a hotel in Asuncion.

“[The brothers] are not being detained, they are still under judicial investigation and they have to testify. Then it will be decided whether they will be arrested or not,” Paraguay's Interior Minister Euclides Acevedo told ESPN Brasil late on Wednesday.

A suíte onde Ronaldinho Gaúcho está hospedado com seu irmão Assis foi revistada no Paraguai. As autoridades locais confirmam os supostos documentos falsos encontrados. As investigações estão em curso, ambos estão sob custódia e irão depor nas próximas horas #FutGloboCBNpic.twitter.com/S78jDqPuCc — Renan Moura (@renanmouraglobo) March 5, 2020

Ronaldinho arrived in Paraguay earlier on Wednesday for a charity event, but ran into trouble with authorities after they discovered the doctored passports in his hotel room in the capital.

Caso Ronaldinho: Fue allanada la suite donde está hospedado Ronaldinho. Se encontraron, documentos varios, C.I. y pasaportes paraguayos con los nombres de Ronaldinho y su hermano. Investigación en curso. pic.twitter.com/8cqHaEI5rS — Fiscalía Paraguay (@MinPublicoPy) March 5, 2020

Acevedo says the two men are now cooperating with the investigation, but are not free to leave the country until they provide testimony in the form of a deposition, set for 8am on Thursday morning local time. Both insist they are innocent, arguing they were deceived by a local “businessman.”

So to recap on what happened to @10Ronaldinho: -Arrived to Paraguay for charity work-Got arrested because of forged documentation (a passport & ID card saying he’s Paraguayan)-As a Brazilian, he doesn’t need it said documentation -Will testify Thursday morning to authorities pic.twitter.com/lgOsD3gt2K — Roberto Rojas (@RobertoRojas97) March 5, 2020

The minister added that Paraguayan authorities had confirmed that Ronaldinho has pending charges back in his native country, though did not provide further details, according to local media.

While the circumstances surrounding the forged documents remain unclear, Ronaldinho’s own passport was confiscated by the Brazilian government in 2018, after the footballer was fined some $2.3 million for building structures off the coast of Lake Guaiba, in southern Brazil, without permission. It is unknown whether the two incidents are related.

Also on rt.com Ronaldinho has 57 properties seized, passports confiscated over unpaid fine & debts – reports

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