Raymond Whelan denied habeas corpus
The Court of Rio de Janeiro on duty rejected an application for habeas corpus from Match Hospitality executive Raymond Whelan. The British executive had been ordered preventive detention on Thursday (July 10), on suspicion of involvement in a touting scheme for World Soccer Cup tickets.
Civil Police started to consider Whelan a fugitive after he was found missing from his room at Rio's luxury Copacabana Palace Hotel on Thursday (10).
Whelan is suspected of providing, facilitating and funneling World Cup tickets to resell them at higher prices than face value
The decision to reject Whelan's petition, which was taken on Friday (11), is based on circumstantial evidence provided by Civil Police that Whelan is the leader of the criminal scheme. According to the court decision, he is suspected of providing, facilitating and funneling World Cup tickets to resell them at higher prices than face value, resulting in “excess profits that get as high as 1,000%.”
The court also considered evidence provided by 900 phone calls between Whelan and alleged gang . Another 11 suspects are under investigation as part of an operation launched by Civil Police in Rio de Janeiro, called Operation Jules Rimet, on suspicion of criminal conspiracy and touting (illegal ticket sales). Ten out of these other suspects were issued preventive detention warrants, including French-Algerian Lamine Fofana.
Match Hospitality is the company appointed by FIFA with exclusive rights to sell hospitality packages for the 2014 World Cup (covering VIP tickets and services).
Translated by Mayra Borges
Fonte: Raymond Whelan denied habeas corpus
