The Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice made final the conviction of former Petróleos Paraguayos (Petropar) president Delia Patricia Samudio Torras and her husband, José Manuel Costa Perdomo, in the case that became known as “tonic water.” Samudio must serve 4 years in prison for breach of trust, while Costa Perdomo was sentenced to 3 years and 9 months of imprisonment as an accomplice.
Unanimously, justices Manuel Ramírez Candia, Carolina Llanes, and Luis María Benítez Riera rejected the extraordinary cassation appeal filed by the defense. This ratified Ruling No. 64 of the Second Chamber of the Criminal Appeals Court, dated October 23, 2024, which had already upheld the first-instance sentence handed down in April of the same year by the Trial Court presided over by Judge Gloria Hermosa.
The case dates back to the start of the covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, when Petropar staged a tender for the emergency purchase of medical supplies. Solumedic S.A. was the only company invited and was awarded the contract to supply products such as N95 masks, thermometers, tanks, and tonic water. The state-owned company disbursed G. 359,700,000, but the supplies never entered the institution's warehouses. The only item received was a batch of protective coveralls valued at G. 13,600,000.
During the trial, prosecutors Silvio Corbeta, Luz Guerrero, and Francisco Cabrera showed that the money was transferred to the firm Racole S.A. to settle a personal debt of Costa Perdomo. Judge Gloria Hermosa described the operation as “forged in advance to harm Petropar's assets.”
The defense argued that there was no loss because Solumedic returned G. 338,811,240 after the scandal came to light. The Court, however, held that the damage was complete at the moment of disbursement, and the subsequent return does not erase the crime. Challenges to a computer forensics examination based on cell phone conversations were also ruled inadmissible, as they had not been raised on appeal, making the matter res judicata.
With the final judgment, both convicts must be sent to the prison system to serve their sentences. Samudio headed Petropar during the government of Mario Abdo Benítez.