An ex-employee at CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Argentina, where Liam Payne fatally fell, has been arrested for allegedly supplying the former One Direction member with drugs leading up to his death on Oct. 16.
Braian Nahuel Paiz was taken into police custody outside of his home in Buenos Aires Friday, his attorney, Fernando Madeo Facente, confirmed to People. He reportedly faces four to 15 years in prison.
Paiz, who worked as a waiter at one of the hotel restaurants, has denied any wrongdoing.
In November, he told local Argentinian news station Telefe Noticias that he did not supply Payne with drugs, but admitted to the two drinking alcohol and doing substances together in the singer’s hotel room.
“They’re saying that he was not under the influence before getting to [CasaSur] but the reality is that he was already on drugs. In fact, he didn’t eat,” Paiz claimed to the outlet.
The former hotel staffer claimed he met up with Payne a second time on Oct. 13, at which point the “Night Changes” singer allegedly asked him for his drug dealer’s contact information, which the staffer provided.
“We spent the night, we did drugs together and something intimate happened,” Paiz further alleged, claiming that he stuck to using weed that night while Payne was allegedly on cocaine.
He then claimed, “I saw him acting normal, he wasn’t aggressive at all, he was really sweet. He asked me if I was OK.”
Paiz is one of five people charged earlier this week in connection to Payne’s death.
Others include Ezequiel Pereyra, another hotel staffer accused of providing the former boy band member with drugs, CasaSur Palermo Hotel operations manager Gilda Martin, Esteban Grassi, the receptionist manager who placed a harrowing 911 call because he feared for Payne’s life, and Rogelio “Roger” Nores, a close friend who allegedly abandoned Payne. The three latter parties were charged with manslaughter.
Page Six has reached out to a rep for Payne’s estate for comment but did not immediately hear back.
The troubled musician had serious substance abuse problem for many years and Nores even claimed in a recent court filing that the “Story of My Life” singer used heroine and “often came close to death.”
Payne’s toxicology report showed he had multiple drugs in his system when he passed, including pink cocaine, a party drug that consists of ecstasy, ketamine, and other substance and is a favorite of other embattled stars like Sean “Diddy” Combs.
In the weeks before he died, Payne had vacationing in Argentina with his girlfriend, Kate Cassidy, but after she left the trip early, he spiraled and began acting erratically, according to other fellow hotel guests.
Photos of his trashed hotel room obtained by investigators showed a smashed television, a half-filled champagne glass, foil and powder scattered, as well as a Dove soap box, which police believe was used to transport drugs to the “You & I” singer.
However, Payne’s cause of death was attributed to multiple traumas and bleeding he sustained as a result of his fatal fall. Prosecutors ruled out suicide as a motive given his state of consciousness.
The “What Makes You Beautiful” singer was laid to rest in his home country, England, on Nov. 20.
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