RIO DE JANEIRO, April 5 (Xinhua) -- Rio de Janeiro's legislature, the Congress, told Thursday's Folha de Sao Paulo daily that it will investigate whether the mayor's office exceeded expenses to hold the July 13-29 Pan American Games in the Brazilian city.

    "We allowed a temporary truce to avoid affecting the games. Any wave could become a tsunami," said local legislative sports commission president Patricia Amorim. "Other investigations will be implemented after the Pan American Games," she added. The Rio de Janeiro mayor's office said it had spent 1.206 billion reales (603 million U.S. dollars), five times the Games's initial budget plan.

    "The public budget is at stake. A lot of money was spent without previous bidding and everyone knows that. Sometimes even lacked a budget signature. I would like to know what the benefit of those costs are," said Amorim.

    Other legislators said they will open legal processes for irregularities in the bidding for sports facility construction.

    Rio is set to host 5,530 athletes from 42 nations of the Americas during the Games.