President of the Rio 2016 Olympic Committee arrested amid investigation into vote-buying scheme to bring the Olympic Games to South America.
8 October 2017
ARUTZ SHEVA 7 (JTA) — The Jewish president of the Rio 2016 Olympic Committee was arrested amid an investigation into a vote-buying scheme to bring the Olympic Games to South America for the first time.
Carlos Arthur Nuzman, who also is the president of the Brazilian Olympic Committee and an honorary International Olympic Committee member, would be a central figure in channeling $2 million to Lamine Diack, a former IOC member from Senegal who helped secure votes when Rio was picked as a venue by the IOC in 2009. Nuzman was arrested on Thursday on charges of corruption, money laundering and participating in a criminal operation.
Three of the top officials of the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee were Jewish. Leonardo Gryner, former chief operating officer, also was arrested on the same charges. Chief executive officer Sidney Levy, who managed a $2.2 billion budget, was Nuzman’s other deputy.
Brazilian authorities have said the behind-the-scenes dealings to win the vote amounted to a “criminal organization,” led by Sergio Cabral, the former governor of Rio de Janeiro who has been jailed on a different corruption conviction. Nuzman, 75, has tried to hamper the investigation by regularizing assets allegedly gained with illicit money. […]
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