Former Barcelona star Ronaldinho Gaucho is ‘always smiling’, according to the head of a Paraguayan jail where he is currently being detained.
As reported by Marca, the former football superstar was arrested last Thursday in the country when he and his brother attempted to enter using falsified Paraguayan passports.
The fake passport shows the former star’s correct name, birthplace, and birthdate, but it falsely prints that he is a naturalised citizen of Paraguay.
A court decision on Saturday then kept the two Brazilians in preventive detention while an investigation into the incident was ongoing ahead of a trial.
“He is doing very well,” head of the jail, Blas Vera explained, as cited by El Mundo. “He is in a good mood, as you see on television. He is always smiling.”
His trip to the South American nation was to promote the charity “La Fundación Angelical,” which provides medical assistance to low-income children, while he was was also going to present his book Genio de la vida (Genius of life).
Last summer, as Diario AS outlined, the former forward had 57 properties seized and owes more than €2m to the Brazilian state over unpaid taxes and fines, while his Brazilian and Spanish passports were confiscated.
Local media outlet Folha de Sao Paulo is cited as describing how Ronaldinho was fined was fined €2.2m for illegally building a pier at his lake house in the city of Porto Alegre.
However, alongside this environmental fine there is a further €1.8m fine in other debts, such as council taxes, which are being pursued by creditors.
The report adds that the former footballer’s debts are accumulating and there is also a new added demand that is being processed by the Office of the National Attorney General of Brazil for €184k.
