Former head of Brazil's Olympic Committee charged with corruption

APD NEWS

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The former president of Brazil's Olympic Committee (COB) Carlos Arthur Nuzman was charged with corruption on Thursday.

Nuzman was accused of paying bribes to African delegates to ensure that Rio would be chosen as the host city of the 2016 Summer Olympics. Sergio Cabral Filho, who served as governor of Rio de Janeiro state when Rio was chosen as host city, was charged as well. Cabral is already in jail on a different corruption conviction.

Earlier on Thursday, Nuzman was granted a writ of habeas corpus and is currently under house arrest. He was previously under preventive arrest in a regular jail, to prevent escape and tampering with evidence.

Nuzman was charged with several crimes: corruption, criminal associations, money laundering and capital flight -- he reportedly has hefty amounts in both cash and gold in foreign banks.

After his arrest, Nuzman resigned from his position as COB President, where he was serving his sixth consecutive term. A former Olympic volleyball player, Nuzman had been commanding the Committee since 1995, being at the helm of the organization of both the 2016 Olympics and the 2007 Pan-American Games.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)