The Federal Chamber of Buenos Aires confirmed the prosecutions of former officials Kirchnerists and members of cooperatives in a case investigating alleged fraudulent maneuvers with public funds intended for the production of lab coats during the government of Alberto Fernández.
The resolution was signed by judges Leopoldo Bruglia, Mariano Llorens, and Pablo Bertuzzi, who considered that there are sufficient elements to support the hypothesis of a maneuver aimed at diverting resources allocated to the Cooperative of Work 15 de Julio Ltda, within the framework of an agreement made with the former Ministry of Social Development for the production of 165,000 lab coats.
The ruling affects the former officials Leonardo Sebastián Moyano, Osvaldo Eugenio Minervini, who served as director of Community Organization, and Eliana Gisela Gladys Rodríguez, administrative advisor.
It also includes Paula Rosana Goroso, Mirta Lorena Zafra, Yesica Gabriela Goroso, Olga Edith Martínez, Matías Sebastián Celano, Lucas Marcelo Acosta, Marcela Verónica Campanella, Alexis Oscar Lugos, Gladis María Itatí Lugos, and Mario Gustavo Figueroa, linked to the investigated cooperatives.
The Investigation
According to the resolution, the investigated scheme would have operated on two levels. On one hand, through the modification of the acquisition system for the lab coats, which changed from direct contracting to the institutional subsidy modality contemplated in Resolution 208/18, which, according to the Chamber, would have allowed to evade administrative controls and select beneficiaries in a discretionary manner.
