On Tuesday, the Federal Chamber of Buenos Aires will intervene for the first time in the ANDIS case, which investigates the alleged payment of bribes by drugstores for the purchase of medications in the disability sector, during a hearing to review the case's nullity motions.
After being rescheduled last week, the hearing will take place tomorrow at 10:30 AM at Comodoro Py, according to Argentine News Agency confirmed from judicial sources.
The motions presented by the Kovalivker family, owners of the Suizo Argentina drugstore chain, were rejected by Federal Judge Sebastián Casanello. Consequently, the case will be appealed to the II Chamber of the Appeals Court, composed of Judges Roberto Boico, Martín Irurzun, and Eduardo Farah.
To the motions for nullity, the also investigated former head of ANDIS, Diego Spagnuolo, has also joined.
The Court must decide whether to confirm the rejection of the nullity motion, which would allow the investigation, currently under seal, to proceed.
> «Sebastián Casanello, the federal judge in charge of the ANDIS case».
On October 9th of last year, Federal Prosecutor Franco Picardi had requested 25 simultaneous raids on drugstores and private homes, as serious irregularities and manipulation had been determined in the purchase of high-cost medications by ANDIS.
Casanello rejected the nullity motions presented by the brothers Emmanuely and Jonathan Kovalivker, in line with the refusal of Prosecutor Picardi, who stated that they were "erroneous" and "contradictory" and aimed to "hinder an incipient investigation".
Before the Chamber, the prosecution's stance will need to be supported in the appeal instance.
The nullity motion is based on the fact that the case was opened based on Spagnuolo's recordings, which were allegedly obtained illegally.
In these recordings, the former official mentioned the Suizo Argentina drugstore as part of the bribery scheme, and also referred to the president's sister, General Secretary of the Presidency Karina Milei, and Eduardo "Lule" Menem.
The Kovalivkers' lawyer, Martín Magram, demands the absolute nullity of the criminal case because it was initiated based on "adulterated recordings, obtained illicitly or even created by artificial intelligence".
