Liam Payne's pal breaks silence after death as he issues bombshell statement

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Rogelio 'Roger' Nores, a close friend of Liam Payne, has refuted allegations that he deserted the former One Direction member before his tragic death.

Roger has reportedly rejected suggestions that police raided his Buenos Aires home and insists he is not implicated in the ongoing investigation.However, three individuals have been detained in connection with the singer's death and are currently under formal investigation in Argentina.

It is suspected that one of the arrested is a "friend" of the late musician, although their identity remains undisclosed.Liam met his untimely end after plummeting from a third-floor balcony at the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires last month, aged just 31.

The Argentinian public prosecutor's office has charged one of the individuals who was with Liam at the time with "abandonment of a person followed by death" an offence that could result in up to 15 years behind bars.Speaking out against the accusations, Roger told reporters: "I never abandoned Liam, I went to his hotel three times that day and left 40 minutes before this happened." In a statement to Mail Online, he further expressed his grief and shock: "There were over 15 people at the hotel lobby chatting and joking with him when I left.