Supreme Court orders investigation into Kueider for bribery and illicit enrichment in separate cases
Argentina's Supreme Court has ruled that former senator Edgardo Kueider be investigated in two parallel proceedings: one for bribery and another for illicit enrichment.
Kueider to face two simultaneous investigations following ruling by highest court
Argentina's Supreme Court of Justice has determined that former senator Edgardo Kueider, detained in Paraguay since 2024, continues to be investigated in two separate cases: one for alleged bribery, which is proceeding in federal justice in San Isidro, and another for alleged illicit enrichment, lodged in provincial justice in Entre Ríos. According to tn.com.ar, the ruling was dated 23 September 2026 and bears the signatures of justices Horacio Rosatti, Carlos Rosenkrantz and Ricardo Lorenzetti.
In formal terms, the highest court rejected the motion for inhibition presented by Federal Court No. 1 of San Isidro, headed by judge Sandra Arroyo Salgado, and ordered the decision to be communicated to the Court of Guarantees No. 2 of Concordia. Both cases against the former legislator will continue to proceed in parallel.
The arrest in Paraguay and the background
Kueider was arrested in 2024 together with his secretary on the international bridge linking Argentina and Paraguay, when they were transporting more than 200,000 dollars without declaring it. In Paraguay, he was convicted of attempted smuggling of money and is also facing an investigation for money laundering. In Argentina, the ruling by the highest court now opens the way for both proceedings to advance simultaneously.
The federal case: bribery linked to Securitas and ENERSA
The first proceeding is being heard by judge Arroyo Salgado in the federal courts of San Isidro. The magistrate is investigating bribes that the private security company Securitas allegedly paid to various public and private bodies, both national and provincial. Among those bodies is ENERSA, the provincial state-owned electricity distribution company in Entre Ríos, of which Kueider was a member as a provincial representative with voting rights. The judge is also examining possible related offences: bribery, incompatible negotiations, breach of duties as a public official and money laundering.
The provincial case: patrimony increase between 1999 and 2019
The second proceeding is being heard in the Court of Guarantees No. 2 of Concordia and aims to determine whether Kueider increased his patrimony appreciably and without justification between 1999 and 2019, a period in which he held positions in the municipal and provincial government of Entre Ríos. The case was formally initiated for illicit enrichment, based on the alleged acquisition of moveable and immoveable property.
The origin of the provincial proceeding was a journalistic report: a journalist accused the then senator of being involved in corruption that would have allowed him to increase his patrimony, and noted that he would be the holder of half the shares of a limited company through which he had allegedly acquired apartments and parking spaces in a building in Paraná. That building was constructed by two brothers who, in turn, had been charged in San Isidro with bribing members of ENERSA to obtain a contract in favour of Securitas.
The conflict of jurisdiction between the courts
The connection between both proceedings generated a jurisdictional conflict. The federal prosecutor raised the motion for inhibition of the Entre Ríos court, and Arroyo Salgado accepted it: she issued an order so that the provincial tribunal would not proceed on the period 2015–2019. The judge alleged connection with the Securitas case, risk of double prosecution and pointed out that in the federal court "historical events are being investigated that would better explain" the increase in patrimony.
Provincial judge Edwin Ives Bastian, head of the Court of Guarantees No. 2 of Concordia, refused to recuse himself. He argued that the illicit enrichment of a public official in provincial positions is a matter of local jurisdiction, that the Securitas case does not describe with precision Kueider's participation, and that this is not the same historical event. The Entre Ríos Court of Appeal upheld that decision and clarified that in the federal case, Kueider's involvement would be subsequent to April 2019, whereas in the local court the analysis concerns patrimony increases from 1999. In the face of the federal judge's insistence, the conflict was escalated to the Supreme Court.
The Prosecutor's opinion and the final ruling
In his opinion of 28 May 2026, interim Attorney General Eduardo Casal recommended rejecting the motion for inhibition. He considered that "an increase in patrimony can have the most diverse causes" and pointed out that the federal claim does not take into account that, whilst Kueider was a member of ENERSA, he was at the same time secretary general of the governorship of Entre Ríos. Casal further argued that neither the facts of the Securitas case nor the alleged laundering of its proceeds exclude that during that period other criminally relevant events may have occurred within the sphere of local justice.
The Prosecutor acknowledged the federal judge's concern regarding the risk of double prosecution, but held that the motion for inhibition was not the appropriate means to resolve it. The Supreme Court ruled "in accordance with the opinion" issued by Casal: it rejected the motion of Federal Court No. 1 of San Isidro and ordered the decision to be communicated to the Court of Guarantees No. 2 of Concordia, leaving both proceedings in a position to proceed in parallel against the former senator.
Source: Google News PY — Crime