Rio de Janeiro: The head of the Brazilian Olympic Committee was arrested on Thursday as part of an investigation into an alleged vote-buying scheme to bring the games to Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
Carlos Nuzman was among the targets of a federal police operation that carried out two temporary arrest orders and six search warrants, according to a police statement. Nuzman was arrested at his Rio de Janeiro home, according to TV Globo. He had already been detained for questioning a month ago as part of the same investigation.
Press officers for the Brazilian Olympic Committee and for Nuzman weren’t immediately available for comment when contacted by Bloomberg.
Rio was chosen in 2009 to host the Olympics seven years later, following an intense campaign by then-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Initially celebrated at home as a sign of Brazil’s rising fortune, money spent at the Games became a controversy as Brazil’s economy deteriorated. A number of corruption scandals have also tainted the Olympic legacy, and several of the newly-built sporting venues are now crumbling without use.
