FIVE MEN HAVE been charged after being under investigation in relation to singer Liam Payne’s death.

Two of the men have been given 24 hours to return to court after being told they face being remanded in custody.

Waiter Braian Nahuel Paiz, 24, and 21-year-old Ezequiel David Pereyra, currently suspended from his job at the Buenos Aires hotel where Payne died in October, have been formally accused of selling him drugs on two separate occasions.

The crime carries a maximum 15-year prison sentence on conviction.

The other three men charged have been named locally as Payne’s businessman friend Roger Nores, hotel chief receptionist Esteban Grassi and head of security Gilda Martin.

Respected Argentinian news website Infobae reported the investigating judge had decided to charge all three men with manslaughter.

Instead of remanding them in custody, Judge Laura Bruniard imposed a travel ban and ordered them to forfeit the equivalent in Argentine pesos of around €45,000.

As news emerged of the charges, Paiz’s lawyer called the court decision “illegitimate, unfounded and arbitrary.”

WhatsApp messages between Liam and the former waiter are said to have played a key part in judge Bruniard’s decision to accuse him of selling cocaine twice on two separate occasions on 14 October, two days before Payne died at CasaSur Palermo Hotel.

Fernando Madeo, appearing to signal he would appeal the judge’s ruling and try to delay his client’s remand in custody, said: “Braian made a very extensive statement and gave all the facts.

“Among them, he stated that he met Liam on two occasions.

“Among several issues, which they did in a private environment, they also consumed narcotics but it is not true that he sold him drugs.”

In an interview with Argentinian online news portal Todo Noticias, the lawyer said: “What we said in the disclaimer is that Braian is a person who is a frequent drug user.

“A while back, he used to use more. He had drugs in his house for his own use, he met Liam and they both used. It’s not that one took drugs to the other, they both just shared what they had.

“My client had drugs for personal use, they got together once and got high together. When he went to the hotel where Liam was, he already had drugs.”

Pereyra, accused of selling Liam drugs on 15 and 16 October, has yet to make any comment personally or through a defence lawyer.

Grassi and Martin have been identified as two of three men pictured carrying Payne back up to his room from his hotel lobby in a photo taken shortly before his death.

The chief receptionist, who made an emergency 911 call moments before Payne died, has not made any public comment since being named as one of the suspects.

But leaked texts he has submitted to investigators point to the artist asking a bellboy at the Casasur Palermo Hotel for cocaine shortly after he checked in – and calling him ‘useless’ when he told him he was unable to help.

The senior hotel worker also claimed the singer rang reception repeatedly, especially at night, to request alcohol and ask where he could buy cocaine.

Nores told a TMZ documentary examining the life and death of Liam Payne which aired last month that he was “in good spirits and perfectly balanced” the day he died as he refuted claims he was acting erratically and was intoxicated shortly before his 16 October fatal fall.

The businessman, initially investigated on suspicion of abandoning his pal before his death amid claims he was Liam’s ‘de facto’ manager, has previously protested his innocence after being named locally as one of the men under investigation.

He said in a statement last month: “I never abandoned Liam, I went to his hotel three times that day and left 40 minutes before this happened.

“There were over 15 people at the hotel lobby chatting and joking with him when I left. I could have never imagined something like this would happen.

“I’ve given my statement to the prosecutor on 17 October as a witness and I haven’t spoken to any police officer or prosecutor ever since.

“I wasn’t Liam’s manager. He was just my very dear friend.”