Criminal guarantees judge Humberto Otazú decided to elevate to oral and public trial the case known as the 'Promissory Note Mafia,' involving former justice of the peace for the San Roque district, Liliana González de Bristot, and ten other defendants. The ruling was made during a preliminary hearing, in which the judge rejected defense challenges and denied requests for conditional suspension of proceedings for five of the main defendants.
Among those whose requests were denied are attorneys Pedro Olmedo, representing Serfin S.A., Félix Oscar Gill, of Cobranzas Eficientes y Oportunas S.A., and Carlos Agüero, of LAB S.A., as well as former court officer Paola Vargas and former usher Líder Benegas. Otazú considered the seriousness of the conduct and, in Benegas's case, the repetition of allegedly criminal acts within the scheme.
At the same proceeding, former court officer Óscar Frutos admitted his responsibility in the fraudulent scheme and received the first conviction in the case, through an abbreviated proceeding. The sentence set two years in prison, with suspension of the sentence's execution subject to rules of conduct, and ordered payment of 36 million guaraníes as compensation for social harm, in installments over three years.
The investigation found that the organization operated out of the San Roque Justice of the Peace Court, using cloned or forged promissory notes to initiate fraudulent enforcement lawsuits. Through this, they obtained million-dollar seizure orders against victims who were unaware of the alleged debts.