A federal judge in Rosario, Gastón Salmain, has been charged with corruption and ordered preventive detention. He will not be arrested until the Council of the Magistrature removes him from office. According to the ruling by Federal Judge Carlos Vera Barros, Salmain was charged with official misconduct, aggravated passive bribery, and malfeasance. The measure also reached financier Fernando Whpei, as the author of active bribery, and judicial operator Santiago Busaniche, as a secondary participant in aggravated passive bribery.
The investigation alleged that between September 2023 and April 2024, the defendants formed an association to manipulate a judicial file to benefit Attila Fideicomisos SRL, Grupo Unión SA, and Lancers SA. Technical reports from telecom companies placed the suspects' cellphones near the courthouse and meeting places on the dates in question. All three were banned from leaving the country, and their assets were embargoed for $200,000. Whpei, a collaborating defendant, confessed to paying the bribe and revealed details of the meetings leading to the agreement.
