Patrick Hickey (left), president of the European Olympic Committee, and International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach arrive for a ceremony in Frankfurt, Germany, on May 20. Brazilian police arrested Hickey in Rio de Janeiro on Aug 17, in connection with an investigation into the illegal sale of tickets for the Rio Games. Reuters File

Emails allegedly link IOC member to illegal sales

Brazilian police on Tuesday said they had uncovered emails between detained International Olympic Committee member Patrick Hickey and the head of a ticketing company that discussed the illegal sale of tickets to the Rio Games.

Police said they were also investigating bank documents for evidence of money laundering linked to the illegal ticketing ring.

Hickey, former president of the European Olympic committee, was arrested in Brazil last week on charges he took part in illegal ticket sales for the Rio Games, which ended on Sunday.

Three members of the Olympic Council of Ireland - executive director Stephen Martin, secretary-general Dermot Henihan and treasurer Kevin Kilty - are suspected of involvement in the illegal sales, police said.

The men remain in Brazil after their passports were seized on Sunday.

Henihan appeared at police headquarters on Tuesday to answer questions. Investigators said they had ruled out his involvement in the alleged scheme because there was no evidence to support it.

Kilty and Martin had been expected to testify on Tuesday, but officials said their lawyers had asked for a postponement to have more time to review documents.

"There are a lot of messages mentioning William O'Brien along with Patrick Hickey," said Aloysio Falcao, one of the lead investigators.

Falcao said Brazilian officials will be requesting help from the Irish government.

Charged with conspiracy, ticket scalping and ambush marketing, Hickey is accused of plotting with other members of the Ireland committee and two companies to sell tickets above face value in a scheme that authorities say could have netted about $3 million in profits.

More than 1,000 tickets have been seized in the investigation.