(ANSA) – ROME, NOV 26 – The former president of the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB) Carlos Arthur Nuzman was sentenced to 30 years, 11 months and eight days in prison on charges of having paid bribes so that Rio de Janeiro was chosen as the venue for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The Rio Criminal Court found him guilty of the crimes of corruption, criminal organization, money laundering and currency evasion. Also sentenced were the former CEO of Rio 2016, Leonardo Gryner (13 years and 10 months) and the former governor of Rio de Janeiro, Sergio Cabral (10 years and eight months), who is already in prison for other allegations.
Nuzman was arrested in October 2017 in an investigation called operation ‘unfair play’ on suspicion of having played a central role in directing the sum of two million dollars to Senegalese Lamine Diack, a former member of the IOC, who it would then have conveyed a certain number of votes on Rio. In this way, the Brazilian city would overtake its rivals Chicago, Madrid and Tokyo, to become the first South American venue for the Olympics.
“He has dedicated his public career to making Rio de Janeiro the home city of the Olympics. However, despite this social responsibility, he has chosen to act against morality and public property,” Judge Marcelo Bretas wrote in the ruling, in which he also reads that the former president of Cob between July 2014 and September 2017 had “hidden and concealed the origin and ownership of 16 kilos of gold”. Cabral, from prison, had admitted to the judge two years ago that he had paid about two million dollars in exchange for up to six votes from the members of the IOC who awarded Rio the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games in the session in Copenhagen in ‘ October 2009.
“The judge sentenced him without evidence,” said Nuzman’s lawyer, Joao Francisco Neto, anticipating his intention to appeal. Now 79, Nuzman resigned from Cob four years ago, just days after his arrest. (HANDLE).
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Source From: Ansa
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