The Senate Special Commission investigating the so-called "promissory note mafia" has forwarded a detailed report to the Public Ministry outlining 46 cases of nurses and staff at the Hospital de Clínicas who were allegedly victims of a fraud scheme that lasted over a decade. The victims, who accessed loans or purchased products through the now-defunct Hospital de Clínicas Mutual Association (Amuclin), had payments deducted from their paychecks but were later taken to court over debts that had already been settled.
According to the parliamentary investigation, the scheme involved the resale of promissory notes originally signed with Amuclin. The documents, which were "payable on demand," had due dates irregularly inserted, and the debtors' addresses were altered to that of the Hospital de Clínicas itself. This ensured that court notifications never reached the intended recipients, many of whom were already retired. This practice forced the victims to be declared in default in the lawsuits.
The network described by the commission is said to have been formed by the then-president of Amuclin, Clara Benítez; lawyers Lourdes Aranda and Carlos Enrique Lara; and the couple Julia Mabel Acosta Rojas and Fabio Ubaldo Molinas. While lawyer Lourdes Aranda promoted the lawsuits, Fabio Molinas acted as a court officer to execute the seizures and also appeared as a plaintiff after receiving the assignment of the credits. His wife, Julia Acosta, was the recipient of the rights from the lawsuits.
The report also points to an institutional failure: the Hospital de Clínicas, linked to the School of Medical Sciences of the National University of Asunción (FCM-UNA), authorized payroll deductions without recording the names of the creditor entities, making it impossible for employees to prove payment. In some cases, the faculty's own administration denied access to old pay stubs.
The Economic Crimes Prosecutor, Luis Piñánez, who had already charged lawyer Lourdes Aranda, received the new dossier. He has until August to decide whether to file formal charges against her, requesting the opening of an oral trial. The amounts involved in the fraudulent lawsuits reached nearly 30 million guaranis in individual transactions, leaving the victims in a state of "economic asphyxiation."