Overview
- Judge Sebastián Casanello ordered the detention of urologist Pablo Atchabahian in Mendoza, making him the first person arrested in the case and placing him under house arrest after he declined to testify.
- Fifteen suspects have been summoned to give statements this week, starting with operator Miguel Ángel Calvete on Tuesday, former ANDIS head Diego Spagnuolo on Wednesday, and ex-official Daniel Garbellini on Thursday.
- While fiscal Franco Picardi sought six arrests, the judge limited custody to Atchabahian and imposed travel bans, asset freezes and periodic court check-ins on others, saying key figures like Spagnuolo and Garbellini remain under court control.
- Investigators seized Calvete’s phones and handwritten notebooks and recovered chats indicating pressure to favor firms such as Profarma and INDECOMM, plus a $5.3 million invoice from ANDIS employee Lorena Di Giorno to INDECOMM and US$700,000 found at Calvete’s daughter’s home.
- Picardi’s filing alleges price-competition manipulation that concentrated awards in a small circle of droguerías—primarily Profarma, Génesis, New Farma and Floresta—while the national government dismisses broader political exposure and distances senior officials.