US swimmer Ryan Lochte has ‘passport seized by Brazilian authorities over false claims he was robbed’

A BRAZILIAN judge has issued an order to seize the passport of American swimmer Ryan Lochte saying his claims he was was robbed in Rio are lies.

However, according to the lawyer of the gold medal-winning Olympian, he has already returned to the US.

Police said they wanted to question the swimmer further about the robbery – which he says took place at gunpoint when he was on the way to a party.

The 12-time medallist said on Sunday he was robbed along with Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger, Jimmy Feigen, but all were unharmed.

However police are saying the men weren’t able to give key details about what happened, and added the swimmers had differing accounts of what took place.

A video also came to light on Tuesday of Feigen and Lochte passing through an X-ray machine to get back into the Olympic village, and they appeared to be carrying belongings which they said they had stolen.

The footage showed the men coming back to their accommodation at around 7am, three hours after the alleged robbery.

Cops asking for their passports would seem to suggest they are now being investigated for the false communication of a crime, which can carry up to three years in prison.

Police said they wanted to speak in particular to Lochte and Feigen urgently.

Releasing a statement to TMZ the cops said: “Judge Keyla Blanc De Cnop, the Special Court of the Fan and Major Events, ordered the dispatch of search warrants and seizure of passports of American swimmers Ryan Lochte and James Feigen.

“With this, they are prohibited from leaving the country.”

The Judge also stated of the footage: “One sees that the supposed victims arrived with their physical and psychological integrity intact, even playing with each other, showing that there wasn’t any psychological shock inherent to such alleged violence.

"The more than calm behaviour of the athletes straight after the supposed violence, together with other details present in the inquiry, makes me believe that more investigations should be undertaken into the possible false communication of a crime."

However Lochte was already back in America according to his lawyer.

Lochte and Feigen claimed the robbery happened when their cab was stopped and two men who said they were cops took their belongings.

Brazilian authorities say while Lochte claims they were only robbed by one person, Feigen said it was more than one involved in lifting their goods.

There is also a surveillance video which shows the men in good spirits after the incident when they returned to the Olympic village.

Lochte's attorney, Jeff Ostrow, told the site: "I have no information from Brazilian authorities that they want his passport.

"I’m shocked to hear that they would go to such measures in an effort to further investigate the incident as he has been nothing but cooperative with authorities, including sitting for a full interview with the Tourist Police, U.S. State Department, USOC Security, FBI, and anyone else that requested to be present."

He added: "Ryan is safely back in the United States."