Paraguay's Supreme Court of Justice decided to dismiss the criminal action for money laundering against Óscar Rubén González Chaves, son of the late former senator Óscar González Daher (OGD), based on the statute of limitations for the crime. The decision was made by the court's Criminal Chamber, with votes from Justices Gustavo Auadre Canela and Juan Carlos Paredes Bordón, while Justice María Lourdes Sanabria Mallorquín voted to uphold the conviction.
The case refers to an appeal for annulment filed by defense lawyers Claudio Lovera, Mario Elizeche, and Rubén Cuevas. Ruling and Sentence No. 187 from the Court considered that the deadline to prosecute the crime of money laundering, whose maximum penalty is five years, expired on March 14, 2026. The calculation considered the order to open oral proceedings from June 2020 as the last act interrupting the statute, plus suspension periods due to appeals and the COVID-19 pandemic.
In her dissent, Justice Sanabria Mallorquín argued that, because it was a case of multiple offenses, the statute of limitations should be governed by the more serious charge, illicit enrichment, which carries a maximum penalty of ten years. The majority of the court, however, did not accept this interpretation.
Despite the statute of limitations on money laundering, González Chaves's conviction for illicit enrichment remains firm. The Court ordered the case file to be sent to a new Sentencing Tribunal, which will hold a third oral trial exclusively for determining the sentence to be served for this crime. The majority opinion highlighted that the excessive procedural delays, including the refusal of at least 18 judges to hear the case over the years, was a determining factor in the statute of limitations being reached.
Simultaneously, the Court ordered that the former councilman from Luque for the Colorado Party be placed under house arrest immediately, as a precautionary measure to ensure his appearance at the new trial. The decision emphasized that González Chaves remained free, without any restrictive measures, even after his conviction for illicit enrichment became final in February 2024, having even participated in public acts that caused outrage. The Court also imposed court costs on the losing party.