Overview
- A federal court in Buenos Aires found former planning minister Julio De Vido criminally responsible for steering 2006–2008 gasoduct contracts to Odebrecht, issuing a three‑year prison term with execution conditional on June 23, 2026.
- Two former energy officials were also convicted: ex‑secretary Daniel Omar Cameron received three years in suspended prison and ex‑subsecretary Cristian Folgar received two years and six months, while two Cammesa executives were acquitted.
- The tribunal applied perpetual disqualification from public office to some defendants and ordered conditions on the conditional sentences, which means the penalties do not lead to immediate jail time if they remain in force.
- Prosecutors led by Diego Luciani portrayed the scheme as a deliberate bureaucratic engineering to favor Odebrecht, while defenses argued the rules responded to an energy emergency and stressed evidentiary limits after many years.
- The court will publish its full written reasons on September 4, 2026, and both appeals by the defendants and possible challenges by prosecutors are expected to determine whether the sentences and bans are enforced; this is De Vido's fourth criminal conviction and he remains under house arrest from an earlier final judgment.