Miguel Prieto’s defense said Tuesday that it will prove during the trial in the Tía Chela case that 25,000 food kits purchased by the Municipality of Ciudad del Este during the COVID-19 pandemic were delivered. The former mayor and 10 other people are facing charges of alleged breach of trust and criminal association in a case involving an alleged loss of more than G. 2.13 billion.
In their opening arguments, lawyers Derlis Martínez and Guillermo Ferreiro maintained that the municipal administration purchased, paid for, received and distributed the kits. The defense plans to present suppliers, photographs, videos, beneficiary spreadsheets and other documents to demonstrate that the contract was carried out.
Martínez said suppliers linked to Tía Chela will confirm in court the sales and delivery of the products at the municipal sports complex, where the kits were allegedly assembled. He said hundreds of people took part in the operation, including religious figures, military personnel and firefighters, but that no supplier was questioned by the Public Prosecutor’s Office during the investigation.
The lawyer also challenged the allegation that a fictitious purchasing chain existed. In the defense’s view, the investigation selected documents that supported the theory of a crime and ignored evidence favorable to the defendants. Martínez said reports from the National Directorate of Public Procurement, the National Directorate of Tax Revenue and the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic were neither consistent nor conclusive.
Ferreiro questioned how the Public Prosecutor’s Office calculated the alleged loss to public funds. He argued that the accusation disregarded suppliers’ invoices from distributing companies, as well as costs, taxes and profit margins. He also said some rejected invoices referred to eggs and other products that were not part of the municipal contract.
The defense denied that Prieto or the other defendants obtained any financial benefit and said that many of the actions described in the accusation fell within administrative duties. The lawyers characterized the theory of a criminal structure within the municipality as an unsupported construction and asked the court to assess the case independently.
The prosecution is being handled by prosecutors Verónica Valdez, Silvio Corbeta and Yeimy Adle. Because the arguments presented at this stage are the defenses’ versions, the actual delivery of the kits, the validity of the contracts and the calculation of the alleged loss will still be examined alongside the rest of the evidence in the case.
The trial is being conducted by a court specializing in economic crimes, presided over by Judge Ana Rodríguez Brozón and composed of Yolanda Morel and Karina Cáceres. The hearing will continue Monday, the 21st, at 8 a.m., with the opening arguments of the other defenses. The defendants also include Nelson Segovia, Félix Cáceres, Francisco Raimundo Arrúa Álvarez, Sebastián Martínez Insfrán, Maggi Fariña Almada, Julián Benítez Gamarra, Higinio Ramón Acuña, Cirle Alcaraz Ramírez, Fermín Ávalos Britos and Emilia Vanessa Florentín Páez.