Ministerio Público

Paraguay's Public Ministry on Monday requested a 6-year prison sentence for former sports executive Ramón González Daher, accused of lying under oath in 2021 during a defamation lawsuit filed by Conmebol president Alejandro Domínguez. The defense claims the defendant invented a voluntary resignation from the vice presidency of the Paraguayan Football Association (APF), but official documents show he was removed for failing a fitness exam.

A 26-year-old woman killed her 7-year-old son and hanged herself in a boarding house in Lambaré. In a letter published on Instagram, she accused her ex-partner of sexually abusing the child since age 3 and stated that the complaint filed with the police and the Public Prosecutor's Office was never investigated. The case is under the responsibility of prosecutor Nora Cubilla.

A Hyundai I10 caught fire on Monday night in the General Bernardino Caballero neighborhood of Encarnación. Volunteer firefighters controlled the flames and no one was injured. The owner, Diana Silvero, attributed the fire to a mechanical defect.

Lawyers filed a complaint with the Public Prosecutor's Office against former IPS president Jorge Brítez and eight other former members of the Board of Directors for alleged irregularities in five tenders totaling more than G. 391 billion.

In the early hours of May 18, the Ministry of Childhood and Adolescence (MINNA) coordinated an inter-institutional operation that removed 42 indigenous children and adolescents from the streets of Ciudad del Este, in the department of Alto Paraná. Three minors were without adult reference; a repeat offender woman and her seven children were taken to the MINNA Open Shelter Refuge by court order. The others underwent medical examinations and were sent back to their communities of origin in Guairá, Caazapá, and Alto Paraná.

A Brazilian mechanic was shot dead on Monday (18) in the María Victoria neighborhood of Pedro Juan Caballero, Amambay Department. The forensic report confirmed that the victim sustained 10 bullet impacts, fired from a 5.56 mm rifle and a 9 mm pistol. The case is under investigation by the Public Prosecutor's Office and the National Police.

The National Police of Paraguay and the Public Prosecutor's Office are conducting operations in Encarnación and Cambyretá to capture Gustavo Rubén Goncalvez Vera, the main suspect in the double homicide of Francisco Alcides Saucedo Quiñónez and Brian Ariel Lugo. During the raids, weapons, ammunition, drugs, and vehicles were seized, including a car reported stolen in Argentina. Investigations point to a possible connection with drug trafficking.

Paraguay's Public Ministry has charged suspended peace judge Carmen Analía Cibils and former judge Nathalia Garcete in two new cases related to the scheme known as the 'promissory note mafia'. The accusations include malfeasance, document forgery, and false notifications, expanding the scope of the investigation that was already in the oral trial phase.

Lawyers Juan José Bernis and María Muñoz filed a criminal complaint against the former president of the Institute of Social Welfare (IPS), Jorge Brítez, and other former directors, for alleged irregularities in five tenders totaling G. 391,574,472,965. The action was filed with the Public Prosecutor's Office and points to breach of trust and misappropriation of public funds.

Deputy Lilian Samaniego (PLRA) denied assaulting anyone during an incident in Quyquyhó, stating that he returned to the scene to calm a fight after being informed that one of his aides was being attacked. Videos of the incident circulated on social media, but so far no formal complaints have been filed.

Judge Yoan Paul López ordered the opening of oral and public trial against a man accused of installing GPS, microphones and hidden cameras to surveil his ex-partner, in addition to illegally accessing her devices and storing pornographic material involving a 17-year-old adolescent.

State Attorney General Emiliano Rolón removed Deputy Attorney María Soledad Machuca from the Specialized Unit for Economic Crimes and Anti-Corruption and the Money Laundering Unit, following questions about alleged shelving of emblematic cases. Nancy Salomón takes over the position.

Hernán Adolar Schlender, former mayor of Jesús de Tavarangüé (ANR), has been a fugitive since October 2025, accused of using Fonacide funds to launder drug trafficking money. Former accountant Zenón Cáceres Duarte was sentenced to four years in prison, with the sentence confirmed in March. The estimated loss to the municipality is G. 7.418 billion.

Arnaldo Andrés Lezcano Ramírez, 20, was detained by the National Police after punching referee Jorge Junior Villalba Ortíez in the face, causing a cheekbone fracture. The assault occurred at the end of a match of the Liga Caaguazú de Futebol, at the Club 8 de Diciembre field in the Santa Isabel neighborhood. The player attempted to flee but was captured a few blocks away and remains at the disposal of the Public Prosecutor's Office.

Paraguay's Attorney General, Emiliano Rolón Fernández, removed Jorge Sosa García from the position of deputy prosecutor for Area X of the Alto Paraná department after three years of performance considered inefficient. The measure, formalized by Resolution No. 1652, aims to reorganize the Public Ministry and takes effect on May 26, 2026. The replacement will be Celso José Sanabria González, who previously served in Ñeembucú. The decision comes less than a month after Rolón Fernández's visit to Ciudad del Este, where he participated in an international prosecutors' meeting and met with local authorities. The Alto Paraná Regional Prosecutor's Office faces a backlog of cases, lack of infrastructure, and complaints from lawyers about slow investigations.

The Public Ministry of Paraguay requested information from the National Police on the investigation into the disappearance of Pabla Beatriz Pereira Jara, 16, which occurred in the early hours of May 16 in the Tacumbú neighborhood of Asunción.

Paraguay's Attorney General Emiliano Rolón created two new specialized cybercrime units and assigned prosecutors Lorenzo Lezcano and Federico Delfino to them, amid controversies over Lezcano's conduct, who is the subject of a preliminary investigation by the Jury for the Prosecution of Magistrates for alleged ties to the late congressman Eulalio Gomes.

The Chaco Sentencing Court begins on Wednesday, May 20, the trial of Judge Amado Yuruhan, accused of sexually harassing a cleaner at the Filadelfia Courthouse in October 2022. The case, reported two days after the incident, will be analyzed by judges Carlos Lezcano, Myrian Núñez, and Shirley Romero.

A survey by the InSight Crime foundation shows that Paraguay is no longer the central corridor for drug trafficking it was three years ago. With stricter controls and inter-institutional surveillance, cocaine seizures fell from 5.4 tons in 2024 to about 1 ton in 2025, consolidating the country as a hostile environment for criminal logistics.

The Public Prosecutor's Office investigation found no evidence of sexual abuse against the 7-year-old boy killed by his mother in Lambaré, who later committed suicide. The complaint made by the woman on social media was not corroborated by exams or testimonies, and the owner of the boarding house where the tragedy occurred stated that the mother had mental health issues and had been admitted to a psychiatric center.

Police and the Public Prosecutor's Office carried out an operation in Santa Rita, Alto Paraná, seizing cell phones, computers and documents in an investigation into child sexual abuse.

A 26-year-old woman suffocated her 7-year-old son and hanged herself in a tenement in the Santa Luísa neighborhood of Lambaré. In a letter on Instagram, she stated that the report of sexual abuse against the child's biological father, filed in 2024, was never thoroughly investigated. The Public Prosecutor's Office reported that medical exams ruled out physical violence, but the director of Forensic Medicine, Pablo Lemir, highlighted that not all sexual abuse leaves physical marks.

A 19-year-old woman reported being assaulted in the neck by a 44-year-old man after refusing a hug at a soccer field in the 4th neighborhood of General Artigas. The suspect, Gustavo Brítez Benítez, turned himself in to police and was detained.

The Comptroller General of the Republic is studying legal measures to impose fines and sanctions on former public officials who leave office without updating their sworn declaration of assets, a practice that hinders the detection of illicit enrichment. Currently, the law only requires the submission of the document for salary payment, but does not provide for punishment for those leaving public service.