DIEGO Maradona’s death probe has taken a new twist as it emerged cops have searched the home of his accountant’s brother.
Investigators also seized his phone to search it for evidence as part of the raid sparked by the football legend’s death on November 25.
Maradona with Maximiliano Trimarchi, brother of Andrea TrimarchiCredit: Instagram
Diego Maradona died of heart failure on November 25Credit: AFP or licensors
He was named locally as Maximiliano Trimarchi and identified as the brother of Diego’s accountant Andrea Trimarchi.
Sources close to the case told Argentinian media the new witness had been at the rented house where the World Cup hero was staying after a brain blood clot operation.
He had reportedly not made investigators aware of his presence.
Maximiliano has been pictured in local media wearing a large sombrero as he poses alongside Maradona – who is happily chomping on a cigar.
“The importance of the seizure of the mobile lies in the fact it could contain valuable information for the investigation,” a source said.
Trimarchi is said to have worked as a chauffeur for Agustina Cosachov, a psychiatrist who was part of the former Naples and Barcelona star’s care team.
Maradona was undergoing health support after he was released from hospital and went to live on a gated residential estate north of Buenos Aires.
Cosachov’s home and office has already been searched by police and prosecutors trying to establish if Diego was the victim of poor care and if his death could be linked to negligence.
The former footballer’s personal physician Dr Leopoldo Luque also had his home and office searched – with belongings including a computer and mobile phone seized.
He shed tears afterwards as he told local media in a hastily-arranged press conference after prosecutors had left his home.
Dr Leopoldo Luque had his home and office searched by policeCredit: EPA
Police carry seized items out of Leopoldo Luque’s officeCredit: EPA
Dr Luque said: “If I’m responsible for anything when it comes to Diego, it was loving him, caring for him, improving his life to the end and extending it.”
He also described the football idol as an “impossible” patient who hated doctors but had a special relationship with him.
The doctor insisted Maradona’s daily well-being once he left hospital on November 11 following his operation was not his direct responsibility.
He added: “I don’t blame myself for anything. It’s very unfair what’s happening.
“Someone is trying to find a scapegoat here when I don’t see one anywhere. We all did the best we could with Diego.”
Meanwhile, a nurse caring for Maradona at his rented home has claimed she had been made to lie about checking up on the footie legend around three hours before he was found lifeless in his bedroom.
Diego Maradona is regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all timeCredit: AFP
Grief swept the world following the death of Maradona Credit: AP:Associated Press
Dahiana Gisela Madrid’s lawyer Rodolfo Baque subsequently claimed the retired footballer had fallen and hit his head on November 18 a week before his death.
Rodolfo Baque told an Argentinian TV news outlet: “He fell and he hit his head. He wasn’t taken to hospital for a scan or an X-ray. He wasn’t taken anywhere.
“It wasn’t a heavy fall but it was a fall. Maradona said he had hit his right side, the other side to the one he was operated on.
“He was picked up and Maradona carried on with his life as normal.”
Mr Baque also claimed his heartbeat had been faster than normal and reached 115 in the days before his death, but “nothing” was done about the warning signs.
Diego was just 60 when he died of heart failure – sparking an outpouring of grief across the world, but especially in his home country of Argentina.
His untimely death is set to unleash a mass fight for his multi-million pound fortune.
It will be a scrap between the five children he has recognised as his and others who are insisting Diego was their dad – like teenager Santiago Lara and mum-of-two Magali Gil.
Diego Maradona’s relatives begin battle over his £37million fortune
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
