A businesswoman accused of providing a fake passport to former Brazilian football star Ronaldinho, which led to his arrest in Paraguay in 2020, has turned herself in to the authorities, Paraguayan police announced. The 2005 Ballon d'Or winner was jailed for about a month, then placed under house arrest for nearly five months in Asunción after entering Paraguay with a fake passport alongside his brother Roberto in March 2020. Dalia Lopez (55), who had been wanted since then, is suspected of providing the documents and organizing this trip, which was aimed at promoting a book. Upon arriving in the country, the former player was arrested for presenting a fake Paraguayan passport and ID card. The Brazilian justice system had revoked his Brazilian passport in 2018 following a conviction and a fine of 2.5 million dollars for illegally building a sidewalk in a protected area. Dalia Lopez stated that she turned herself in because she felt her physical safety was threatened. During a search at her luxury residence in Asunción, police seized more than 200,000 dollars. Lopez is due to face charges of document forgery and criminal association. About 20 people were arrested at the time in connection with the case, most of them employees of Paraguayan immigration departments and police elements. To avoid a public trial, Ronaldinho paid 90,000 dollars, while his brother paid 110,000 dollars, allowing them to leave Paraguay after about six months in detention. Prior to that, the two brothers had been released from prison and placed under house arrest in a luxury hotel in the Paraguayan capital for a bail of 1.6 million dollars.
