HomeNewsBriefBrazil Corruption Probe Ensnares Rio Olympics Chief
BRIEF

Brazil Corruption Probe Ensnares Rio Olympics Chief

BRAZIL / 5 OCT 2017 BY ANGELIKA ALBALADEJO EN

The head of Brazil's Olympics committee has been detained for his alleged role in a bribery scheme to win the bid for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, a scandal that illustrates the multilayered nature of systematized graft in Brazil.

Carlos Arthur Nuzman, the president of Brazil's Olympics committee, was detained on October 5 based on accusations that he conspired to bribe members of the International Olympics Committee (IOC) to ensure the selection of Rio de Janeiro as host city for the 2016 games.

Brazilian prosecutor Fabiana Schneider described Nuzman as "the bridge that linked the criminal scheme together."

Leonardo Gryner, the former director of Brazil's Olympics committee who is considered by prosecutors to be Nuzman's "right-hand man," was also detained on October 5.

The arrests follow raids last month on Nuzman's home and the offices of Brazil's Olympics committee, during which authorities seized assets as well as documents and a computer.

The search of Nuzman's home also led to the discovery of a key to a safe in Switzerland where Nuzman reportedly stashed 6 bars of gold, which he did not disclose in his tax filings until weeks after the raid. As a result, prosecutors have accused Nuzman of failing to declare assets held abroad, and thus obstructing the investigation.

17-10-05-Brazil-Operation-Unfair-Play-chart

(Diagram of the players involved in the cash-for-votes Olympics bid scheme, courtesy of Brazil Attorney General's Office)

The vote-buying scheme to secure the Rio bid was uncovered by a joint international operation dubbed "Unfair Play," which according to the Attorney General's Office involves Nuzman, Gryner and several other officials and businessmen in Brazil and abroad.

Authorities issued an arrest warrant last month for "King" Arthur Soares, a Miami-based Brazilian businessman accused of paying a $2 million bribe to Papa Massata Diack, the son of Lamine Diack, an influential Senegalese IOC member.

Former Rio State Governor Sérgio Cabral has also been implicated in the international criminal conspiracy to secure the bid. Cabral was already sentenced earlier this year to 14 years in prison for corruption and money laundering tied to the Rio games.

French authorities are also involved in the investigation, which includes an inquiry into the actions of the bank that processed the bribe to Papa Massata Diack, who remains in Senegal where he has eluded an Interpol arrest warrant since last year in relation to a separate sports corruption scandal.

InSight Crime Analysis

The cash-for-votes graft scheme uncovered by Operation Unfair Play is perhaps the clearest example of just how systemic corruption actually is in Brazil. In this case, elites allegedly engaged in a transnational graft scheme that was intended to create new opportunities for their own illicit enrichment.

SEE ALSO: Brazil News and Profiles

As one prosecutor put it, the games were used "as a trampoline to commit Olympic-size acts of corruption." The massive construction undertaken for the games allowed lucrative contracts to be used to siphon public funds into the already flush pockets of crooked Brazilian elites. Many of the now empty and unused facilities built for the games stand as a reminder that for these powerful interests, the games were a great success.

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

ELITES AND CRIME / 21 OCT 2021

The message was crystal clear: Jimmy Chérizier, Haiti's most powerful gang boss, forcing Prime Minister Ariel Henry to leave a…

COLOMBIA / 18 AUG 2021

Seizures of coltan in Colombia have shown the complex networks used by armed groups to smuggle the valuable mineral from…

BRAZIL / 10 JUN 2021

By undercutting legal streaming apps, militia groups are providing an illegal television service to millions of households in Brazil, earning…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Chemical Precursor Report continues to be a reference in the region

19 MAY 2023

For the second week in a row, our investigation into the flow of precursor chemicals for the manufacture of synthetic drugs in Mexico has been cited by multiple regional media…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Chemical Precursor Report Widely Cited

THE ORGANIZATION / 12 MAY 2023

We are proud to see that our recently published investigation into the supply chain of chemical precursors feeding Mexico’s synthetic drug production has been warmly received.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Paraguay Election Coverage Draws Attention 

5 MAY 2023

InSight Crime looked at the various anti-organized crime policies proposed by the candidates in Paraguay’s presidential election, which was won on April 30 by Santiago Peña. Our pre-election coverage was cited…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in OAS, CARICOM Reports

28 APR 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s work was cited nine times in a new report by the Organization of American States (OAS) titled “The Impact of Organized Crime on Women,…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Staff Cited as Experts by International Media

21 APR 2023

This week, InSight Crime deputy editor, Juan Diego Posada, was interviewed by the Associated Press about connections between the ex-FARC mafia and Brazilian criminal groups, and…