Judge Humberto Otazú, from the Economic Crimes division, dismissed the investigation against former deputy Orlando Arévalo, his wife, former Lambaré councilwoman Graciela Carolina González, and prosecutor Sandra Ledesma. The decision, made on August 19 through Interlocutory Order No. 273, granted a dismissal request filed by prosecutor Francisco Cabrera.
The case originated from a complaint filed by María José Bareiro Duré, legal representative of construction company Rehobot Construcciones, in February 2025. She accused the couple and the prosecutor of money laundering, criminal association, influence peddling, extortion, aggravated bribery, and persecution of innocent persons.
The conflict began with a renovation contract for the Arévalo-González residence, signed in March 2022 for an initial amount of G. 350 million guaranis. A subsequent addendum raised the total cost to over G. 611 million. The company claimed that, after completion of the work, a balance remained pending. Following a formal complaint, including a telegram sent in January 2024, Carolina González filed a criminal lawsuit against Bareiro for alleged dangerous construction activities and fraud.
In the complaint, the construction company representative argued that the criminal lawsuit was retaliation orchestrated with the intervention of prosecutor Ledesma, leveraging the political influence of Arévalo, who at the time was vice president of the Jury of Impeachment of Magistrates (JEM).
In his analysis, prosecutor Francisco Cabrera concluded that insufficient evidence was found to substantiate the alleged crimes. Regarding the false complaint allegation, he argued that, to characterize the crime, a prior judicial decision attesting to the non-existence of the facts in the original case would be necessary. However, the lawsuit filed by González against Bareiro has already been elevated to oral jury, without a merit judgment to date. The same logic was applied to the crime of persecution of innocent persons attributed to prosecutor Ledesma.
The Public Ministry also dismissed extortion, stating that filing a criminal complaint is a right protected by law and does not constitute, by itself, an illicit threat. As for accusations of influence peddling, bribery, and money laundering, the prosecution found no evidence of a scheme of favors or a predicate crime necessary to configure money laundering. However, patrimonial antecedents were forwarded to the Specialized Unit for Economic and Anti-Corruption Crimes for a possible separate investigation.
Judge Otazú, upon reviewing the contract, payment receipts, and technical report of the work, considered that the investigations conducted supported the prosecutor's arguments and decided to dismiss the complaint, based on Article 306 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The resolution does not prevent reopening the case if new evidence emerges in the future.