The president of the Paraguayan Congress, Colorado Senator Basilio “Bachi” Núñez, faces another legal complication. On Tuesday, the Specialized Unit for Economic and Anti-Corruption Crimes (UDEA) received an expansion of the criminal complaint against the lawmaker, exposing alleged systematic favoritism toward relatives, notably the case of his niece, Berenice Ayelén Sosa Cabrera.
According to the document presented by lawyer Francisco Rubén Penayo Almada, the young woman joined the Upper House in October 2023 at age 18, with only a high school diploma, initially assigned to her uncle's office with a salary of G. 4,500,000 (about R$ 3,000).
After Núñez took office as Congress President in July 2024, the meteoric reclassifications began. First, she was promoted to “Professional I” with a salary of G. 7,100,000. Six months later, in January 2025, another raise set the salary at G. 9,500,000 — a cumulative increase of 111% in a short period.
The expanded complaint confirms evidence of breach of trust and improper fee collection, but adds the criminal charge of self-serving administration (Article 8 of Law No. 2,523/2004). The complainant argues that Núñez used his spending authority not to serve institutional interests but to financially benefit his inner circle, estimating a loss to the public treasury of about G. 370,000,000 by the end of the legislative term in 2028.
The complaint, already filed with the Public Prosecutor's Office, requests urgency in the Senate's submission of the employee's complete records, including biometric time logs, and that the Comptroller General of the Republic provide the young woman's asset declarations to verify whether there was actual consideration compatible with the amounts received.