RIO DE JANEIRO, June 3: Football star Ronaldo’s Brazilian managers, Alexandre Martins and Reinaldo Pitta, have been arrested following police investigations into money laundering and corruption, media reports said on Tuesday.

Three other suspects said to belong to a network that illegally sent US$33.4 million out of Brazil and deposited it in Swiss bank accounts, were also arrested.

A state attorney said that Martins and Pitta had admitted opening numerous accounts, using the names of their employees, but denied charges of money laundering.

They claimed they needed the money to conduct “football business.”

A Brazilian judge refused to set bail for the two, saying that they could easily leave the country with the money they had overseas.

Pitta and Martins are the most successful and best-known Brazilian agents and are said to have some 100 players on their books.—dpa