The Social Security Institute (IPS) of Paraguay is at the center of a corruption scandal involving a patrimonial loss of 61 billion guaranis, related to the installation of modular operating rooms that was never completed. The Public Prosecutor's Office has charged nine people, including the institution's former presidents Vicente Bataglia and Jorge Brítez, for the alleged crime of breach of trust.
The investigation indicates that, between 2020 and 2025, payments were made and successive addenda were signed to a contract with the company Neighpart S.A. for the installation of the surgical centers on the seventh floor of the IPS Central Hospital. However, a subsequent technical report indicated that the building's structure, over 50 years old, would not support the weight of the equipment, making the project impossible at the originally planned location. Despite this, the contract was maintained and modified to transfer the work to the basement, without the services being effectively delivered.
On Thursday, former president Jorge Brítez voluntarily appeared before Judge Rodrigo Estigarribia, who specializes in Economic Crimes. The magistrate granted him conditional release, rejecting the Public Prosecutor's Office's request for preventive detention. The judge based his decision on procedural law that prohibits preventive detention for people over 70 years old and because he did not identify a concrete risk of flight or obstruction of the investigation. A real bail of G. 1 billion was imposed as a precautionary measure.
Former president Vicente Bataglia, who according to his defense is in Italy attending a course, has also reportedly been notified, and his return to the country to appear before the court is expected in the coming days. On Wednesday, former IPS legal advisor Rosa Concepción Colmán also received conditional release after paying a bail of G. 500 million.
Brítez's lawyer, José Fernández Zacur, criticized the action of prosecutor Julio Ortiz, calling the charges "a show" and questioning their basis. Meanwhile, Bataglia's lawyer, Jorge Arturo Daniel, questioned the legality and proportionality of the detention requests, alleging that his clients have strong ties to the country.
Meanwhile, the Comptroller General's Office (CGR) revealed that the alleged embezzlement of G. 61 billion is just the tip of the iceberg. According to the Director of Forensic Auditing, Leandro Villalba, since 2019, nine complaints have been filed against the IPS for irregularities that, when combined, represent a potential patrimonial loss exceeding USD 200 million, covering areas such as medication management, public works, and contracting.
The crisis is being watched with apprehension by IPS beneficiaries. Representatives of retirees and policyholders welcomed the charges but demanded that investigations not be limited to these cases and that they advance to punish all those responsible, including possible accomplices in the private sector, to prevent the case from ending in impunity. Senator Colym Soroka echoed this sentiment, arguing that the criminal investigation should also reach the businessmen who benefited from the irregular bids.
The modular operating rooms case exposes a chronic management crisis at the IPS, aggravated by an internal report that became public, showing that more than 36,000 medications, worth G. 1.8 billion, expired in the institution's warehouses between 2023 and 2025, while policyholders face chronic drug shortages.