Hickey was arrested in Rio de Janeiro this morning.
Pat Hickey’s passport, accreditation, and plane tickets have been seized by Brazilian police following his arrest in Rio de Janeiro this morning.
Pics via Inpho
The President of the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) was arrested as part of an investigation into the unauthorised reselling of Olympic tickets and police provided more details at a press conference in Rio de Janeiro this afternoon.
According to Sinead Carroll of TheJournal.ie, who was present at the press conference, email and message evidence on Hickey’s phone is currently being investigated by police, including email exchanges with Marcus Evans, one of the directors of The Hospitality Group (THG).
Kevin Mallon, the Irishman who was found in possession with approximately 1,000 Olympic tickets and faces charges of selling them on illegally, is also a director of the group.
Pro 10, the official reseller for Olympic tickets from the OCI, claim Mallon was distributing tickets on its behalf.
Police say there is email and message evidence on Pat Hickey's phone being investigated #Rio2016
— Sinéad O'Carroll (@SineadOCarroll) August 17, 2016
Police say there is email evidence of exchanges between Marcus Evans and Pat Hickey during #Olympics
— Sinéad O'Carroll (@SineadOCarroll) August 17, 2016
Regarding Hickey’s arrest on Wednesday morning, police said that when they went to arrest in Hickey in Rio de Janeiro this morning, his wife said that he wasn’t there. He was later found in another room.
Hickey was taken to hospital as a precaution having been very shaken by his arrest and because he informed them about a pre-existing heart condition.
As a precaution, police brought Hickey to hospital because he was very shaken after arrest. But blood pressure is totally fine, they say
— Sinéad O'Carroll (@SineadOCarroll) August 17, 2016
The Irish Times, meanwhile, is reporting that police have evidence that Hickey was involved in the scheme that saw tickets allocated to the Olympic Council of Ireland end up in the hands of THG.
Earlier today, the Olympic Council of Ireland said that they would issue updates on the situation via their website.
There is a developing situation in Rio regarding the ticketing story. The OCI will only issue updated statements via its website.
— Team Ireland (@TeamIreland) August 17, 2016
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