Representatives of businesses in Lambaré testified that they had paid their taxes to the municipality. The report says the suspicious cancellations totaled more than G. 9 billion.
El Observador
https://observador.com.py/The Banco Atlas–Conmebol case has been stalled since April while the court considers a recusal. The Senate approved a statement expressing concern about the delay and, in a separate vote, requested information from MITIC about the Paraguay Gigante campaign.
Warnings and indications—including the registration of his degree with the Ministry of Education and Sciences in just over four hours, his lack of command of legal language, and the mismatch between the creation of the university and the period of study he claimed—were ignored before Hernán Rivas joined the Jurado de Enjuiciamiento de Magistrados, while Celeste Amarilla warned of possible invalidation of the body’s decisions and perjury, and prosecutor Patricia Sánchez reported a threat attributed to him concerning her remaining in office, with no mention of a death threat.
Paraguay’s prosecutors requested a 12-year prison sentence for former senator Hernán Rivas over the alleged use of a false diploma, said he used political influence to obtain registrations and serve on the JEM, cited a threat against prosecutor Patricia Sánchez and requested an investigation of Education Ministry auditor Nilda Rosa Rojas Melgarejo, while the court plans to issue its final decision on September 24 and the case has revived debate over educational privileges, oversight and about 1,500 suspected diplomas.
Lawyer Mauro Barreto accused the Public Prosecutor’s Office and courts in Ciudad del Este of an alleged illegal-fee scheme, without presenting evidence or independent investigations, and criticized alleged privileges and protection among Supreme Court justices.
Hernán Rivas's trial will hear the Public Prosecutor's Office's closing arguments on September 21 and deliver the sentence on September 24, while prosecutors consider investigating possible false testimony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
The courts ordered the pretrial detention of three agents and Helga Solís Gómez over alleged leaks linked to Lalo Gomes, while Senator Rafael Filizzola demanded an investigation into Minister Jalil Rachid, criticized the Public Prosecutor’s Office for selective action and questioned the lack of transparency surrounding the transfer of Itaipu-funded interception equipment.
Helga Solís Gómez, the niece of deceased lawmaker Lalo Gomes, turned herself in to police in Pedro Juan Caballero and was transferred to Asunción, where she will be investigated along with four current and former National Anti-Drug Secretariat (SENAD) employees for alleged criminal association, influence peddling, information leaks and obstruction of investigations.
Miguel Prieto’s defense said at the Tía Chela trial that it will present suppliers, records and other documents to prove the delivery of 25,000 food kits during the pandemic, while challenging the alleged loss of G. 2.13 billion and the corruption charges.
Paraguay’s Public Prosecutor’s Office has charged five people and sought pretrial detention for four current or former members of the National Anti-Drug Secretariat (SENAD) and Lalo Gomes’s niece, who are suspected of leaking information about anti-drug operations to benefit the former lawmaker’s family. The case also involves the seizure of 4.255 kilograms of cocaine bound for Brazil and questions over the transfer of the agency’s telephone-interception system.
According to reports by Última Hora and El Nacional, Paraguay’s Criminal Appeals Court rejected the defense appeals and upheld the convictions of three former police officers for torturing political prisoners between 1976 and 1978. Fortunato Laspina and Eusebio Torres received 25 years, while Manuel Alcaraz received 20 years.
Santiago Peña reshuffled Paraguay’s health leadership, appointing Isaías Fretes as minister and Derlis León as IPS president, while doctors maintain a strike over a salary increase and an audit warns about the concentration of social security funds at Ueno Bank.
By October 9, the Juror for the Trial of Magistrates will assess whether four orders requiring reports to be removed from ABC Color’s digital archive constituted censorship and decide whether to open an investigation or proceedings against the judges involved.
Attorney Lalo Gómez (Eulalio Gómez Batista) told El Observador Radio TV that political tentacles directly influence judicial decisions in Coronel Oviedo and the Caaguazú department, causing poor administration of justice, and alleged that Freemasonry exerts even broader influence over courts, lower courts, the Supreme Court of Justice and Paraguay’s Public Prosecutor’s Office, supposedly having already been denounced by Justice Minister Manuel Ramírez Candia when he was superintendent of the local judicial district.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office charged former National Anti-Drug Secretariat (SENAD) technical intelligence director Mauro Ruiz Díaz and his ex-wife, Andrea Karina Martí, over suspected illicit enrichment and money laundering after they moved G. 2.8 billion with no justified origin, and requested the freezing of accounts and assets; Ruiz Díaz is also under investigation over alleged leaks linked to the A Ultranza PY case, with no conviction having been issued.
Yo Creo leaders accused the Public Prosecutor’s Office of trying to keep Miguel Prieto out of the 2028 presidential race through a criminal case investigating payments of more than G. 11.2 billion for works linked to the Hospital of Ciudad del Este. The case, which also involves lawmaker Walter García, has not produced public evidence of political coordination.
Hugo Javier González remains in serious condition and on a ventilator at Itauguá National Hospital after reportedly being found unconscious in his cell bathroom at 11:12 p.m., while the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Internal Affairs unit investigate the case; there is no footage from inside the area.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office accused former Ciudad del Este mayor Miguel Prieto, Sebastián Martínez Insfrán and councilor Valeria Romero of an alleged breach of trust involving Regional Hospital funds and asked for the case to proceed to oral trial. The request remains subject to a preliminary hearing.
Rumors of possible impeachment proceedings against Supreme Court justices are dividing Paraguay’s Colorado Party, although no formal proposal exists. Senator Derlis Maidana said Santiago Peña denied any government initiative, while Mario Varela acknowledged discussions that could involve Liberal senators, Juan Bartolomé Ramírez and a possible political move after the municipal elections.
Victims of the “Mafia de los Pagarés” called for impeachment proceedings against Paraguayan Supreme Court justices, alleging irregularities and a lack of progress on the constitutional mechanism because of alleged complicity between Parliament and the judiciary.
Former UNA rector Froilán Peralta was released on September 3, 2026, after serving a three-year sentence for breach of trust related to a loss of G. 1.15 billion for the university.
The trial of Miguel Prieto and 10 other defendants in the Tía Chela case, concerning the purchase of 25,000 food kits in 2020, will continue on September 7 after the first hearing ended without the presentation of the main evidence.
Lawyer and activist María Esther Roa, a member of the Coordinadora de Abogados del Paraguay and Somos Anticorrupción Paraguay, accused the Public Prosecutor’s Office and ministers of Paraguay’s Supreme Court of failures and possible favoritism. She cited officials’ salaries and family ties—including María Verónica Lina Sienra Bertón, Analía Carrillo and relatives of Carolina Llanes—compared corrupt judges with members of the First Capital Command (PCC), and advocated structural reform with more resources and protection for investigators.
Alfredo Benítez remains director of Administrative Management at Paraguay’s postal service while awaiting a hearing on the conditional suspension of proceedings in which he is accused of falsifying notices in 19 enforcement lawsuits. The measure would include G. 100 million in restitution and avoid an oral trial without amounting to an acquittal.