Paraguay's Public Ministry has filed formal charges and requested the preventive detention of former presidents of the Social Security Institute (IPS), Vicente Bataglia and Jorge Brítez, along with seven other former officials of the institution. They are accused of breach of trust in a case investigating irregularities in the contracting of modular operating rooms for the IPS Central Hospital, which were never completed.
The alleged patrimonial damage caused to the IPS is estimated at 61 billion guaranis. Prosecutor Julio Ortiz, in charge of the investigation, also requested the preventive seizure of the accused's assets up to the value of the damage and a general prohibition on selling or mortgaging properties.
The investigation began with a 2024 complaint, based on a resolution from the National Directorate of Public Procurement (DNCP) that pointed to irregularities in addendums to the bidding contract. The project, put out to tender in 2019 and awarded to the company Neighpart SA for approximately 53 billion guaranis, faced execution problems due to the impossibility of releasing the work area. The prosecution maintains that, instead of suspending the contract, the managers approved addendums and acceptance acts that allowed payments to the contractor for services not performed.
In addition to Bataglia and Brítez, charges were filed against Hugo Enrique Aranda, José Raúl Coronel Acosta, Juan Manuel Villar López, Rosa Colmán, Jaime Joel Caballero Ruiz Díaz, Marcelo Bordón Leiva, and Verónica Alexandra Blanco Bogado. Prosecutor Ortiz mentioned difficulties in accessing all the case documentation within the IPS itself but expressed confidence that the charges would facilitate obtaining the missing papers.
In a separate judicial case, the former mayor of Ciudad del Este and leader of the Yo Creo party, Miguel Prieto, will have to face oral trial in the so-called "Tajy Case." Judge Humberto Otazú rejected the defense's requests and elevated the case to a jury trial. Prieto is accused of breach of trust for an alleged simulated purchase of baking supplies during the pandemic, causing a loss of about 306 million guaranis to the municipality. Prosecutor Silvio Corbeta stated he has documentary evidence that the bidding was directed to benefit a company linked to Prieto's then-partner.
Simultaneously, the crisis within Paraguay's opposition deepened with new statements from Senator Kattya González, who called Miguel Prieto "ungrateful" and "immature." The rift between the two emerged after Prieto signaled a preference for another name for vice president on a potential ticket for 2028, relegating González to a Senate candidacy.
On another judicial front, a preliminary hearing was scheduled for August 21 against former Chamber of Deputies employee William Bogarín, lawyer Ilse Paredes, and José Ljubetic. They are accused of aggravated fraud against Mennonite settlers in the Río Verde region of San Pedro for an amount of 1.6 million dollars, involving the false promise of selling 8,000 hectares of land in the Chaco.