The Public Prosecutor’s Office filed charges against former Ciudad del Este mayor Miguel Prieto, Sebastián Martínez Insfrán and councilor Valeria Fabiana Romero Escobar for an alleged breach of trust related to funds allocated to the Regional Hospital. Prosecutors asked for the case to proceed to a public oral trial, but the request still depends on a preliminary hearing.
The charges were filed by prosecutors Yeimy Adle Monges, Verónica Valdez Rivas and Silvio Corbeta Dinamarca before the First-Instance Criminal Guarantees Court for Economic Crimes. According to the prosecution, Prieto is alleged to be the perpetrator, while Martínez Insfrán and Romero Escobar are alleged accomplices. The case is registered under number 8,542/2020.
According to the prosecution’s theory, between 2019 and 2022 the Ciudad del Este Municipality transferred G. 11,295,555,300 to the Local Health Council of the Regional Hospital. The funds came from fees, rents and charges for bus-terminal boarding bays and were intended to finance improvements to infrastructure, equipment and medical supplies.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office maintains that routing the funds through the Local Health Council may have bypassed the requirements of Law No. 2,051/03 on Public Procurement, as well as oversight by the National Directorate of Public Procurement (DNCP). The investigation mentions a lack of technical planning, the absence of construction inspectors and a lack of certificates proving that the work had been carried out. Institutionally, the council matters because the prosecution alleges that it was used to manage hospital funds outside regular planning, contracting and oversight mechanisms.
The council, chaired by Walter García, allegedly signed eight main contracts with M&M Constructora and SERVMAQ. According to the charges, M&M effectively operated as the accounting office of a municipal employee and lacked the technical capacity or infrastructure required for the projects. Under a contract worth more than G. 3,075 million, an advance payment of G. 500 million was allegedly made before the formal evaluation of the bids.
A report by the Public Prosecutor’s Office’s Forensic Laboratory estimated the municipality’s direct loss at G. 757,166,276, attributed to incomplete or unexecuted work, work without certification and costs the prosecution considered excessive. The charges also cite audits by the Comptroller General of the Republic, architectural expert reports and bank reports. Any criminal liability will still be examined by the courts.
The preliminary hearing will determine whether the case proceeds to trial and whether there are sufficient grounds to open the trial phase. The charges are the third against Prieto: the trial in the Tía Chela case began on August 31 and involves the allegedly irregular purchase of 25,000 food kits during the pandemic, with the loss estimated by the prosecution at G. 2,130 million. He is also expected to face the Tajy case, which investigates an alleged breach of trust, self-dealing and criminal association, involving damage of more than G. 300 million.