Federal Judge Sebastián Casanello formally charged former President Alberto Fernández on Thursday in a case investigating an alleged fraud over state insurance policies during his administration.

The case stems from a decree Fernández passed as president mandating that all state offices hire insurance from Nación Seguros SA, a subsidiary company of state-owned Banco Nación. That decree was struck down by current President Javier Milei. 

Fernández was charged with engaging in “dealings incompatible with public office” for his alleged role in ensuring commission payments to brokers who acted as intermediaries in the purchase of said policies. One of those accused of this is Héctor Martínez Sosa, the husband of the former president’s secretary, María Cantero. 

Casanello has also charged the couple, as well as former Nación Seguros head Alberto Pagliano and ex-board members Gustavo García Argibay, Sebastián Diaz Bancalari, Fernando Arana, Mauro Tanos, and Carlos Soria.

Incidentally, the case against the former president for gender violence against his ex-partner Fabiola Yañez sprung from evidence found during the investigation of the alleged insurance fraud. Private messages from Yañez to Cantero detailing alleged assaults were found on the latter’s phone after she was forced to hand it in. 

The insurance fraud case

One of the key pieces of evidence in the case is a report made by the Economic Crime and Asset Laundry Prosecutors Office (PROCELAC, for its Spanish initials). The 662-page document was filed last May and reveals the relationship between Fernández and Martínez Sosa, detailing that the former president invoiced the broker for several alleged professional services between 2010 and 2019. The last invoice was issued on December 4, 2019, a few days before Fernández was inaugurated. 

The defense claims that the invoices are payments for a service Fernández provided Martínez Sosa, which consisted of reports on the country’s economic and political situation he made while he was out of public office. The former president had additional clients for this service, including two unions and a few companies.

Fernández first appeared before Judge Julián Ercolini, who initially led the probe, in November 2024. The judge, however, was conducting the proceedings as a temporary magistrate at the time, replacing the lead judge of the court for a stipulated time. His tenure ended last February, and the case was sent to Casanello.

The former president appeared before Casanello on July 4 to expand his testimony in the case. For the first time, he answered questions from the judge and prosecutor for two hours, claiming that the charges are “neither clear nor precise.” He also questioned the accusation of the alleged crime, stating that his only goal was to “avoid and diminish the intervention of third parties that could endanger state property.”

Fernández denied being involved in any operation that intended to harm the state and asked the judiciary to deliver a resolution “independent of outside pressure.”

-With information from Ámbito