The government has “pre-emptively” removed National Disability Agency head Diego Spagnuolo from his post. The dismissal comes after a series of leaked audios in which a voice allegedly belonging to the disability head can be heard accusing Secretary General Karina Milei of corruption. 

In the recordings, which surfaced on Tuesday, Spagnuolo claims that President Milei’s sister takes bribes from medical and pharmaceutical companies in exchange for state contracts. The audios also contend that the president was aware of this.

Presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni announced the government’s decision on X, saying that President Javier Milei has decided to remove Spagnuolo from his position “in light of the opposition’s political manipulation in an electoral year.” Aside from serving in that governmental agency, Spagnuolo acted as Milei’s lawyer and, reportedly, was also a close friend of the president.

The decision or Spagnuolo’s removal was made official in a presidential decree published Thursday in the Official Gazette. The ministry’s current Secretary of Health Management, Alejandro Alberto Vilches, is set to take over and carry out “a deep audit.”

The scandal comes as the Lower House voted to overturn a presidential veto on a bill granting more funds for people with disabilities. Now, the decree will go to the Upper House, where two-thirds of the Senate would also be needed for it to be definitively repealed.

The leaked audios

According to the audios, Karina Milei and Eduardo “Lule” Menem take back “between half a million and 800,000” dollars every month. These figures allegedly represent 5% of the bribes they demanded from medical companies. 

Karina Milei is President Milei’s sister, while Eduardo “Lule” Menem is Karina’s right hand in the Presidency Secretariat. 

Chief of Staff Guillermo Francos confirmed that a judge is investigating the case and that he could not confirm whether the audios were “true or not.”

“I wouldn’t set myself on fire in public for any official,” he said about Spagnuolo, quickly adding that he believes in Karina Milei and Menem’s innocence.

Damning recordings

The recordings, which were made public by journalists Mauro Federico and Ivy Cángaro, appear to have been made at a bar or restaurant. 

In one of the audios, the voice allegedly belonging to Spagnuolo mentions a “Javier,” referencing President Milei. He went on to say that the president “is not involved” but that the ones asking for bribes are “his people.” 

“I spoke with the president. I told him they are stealing. He can’t play dumb with me. If there’s any ruckus and they don’t take care of me, I have all of Karina’s WhatsApps.”

The voice on the audio accused the Suizo Argentina drug company of being in charge of collecting the bribes from other companies. The percentages ranged between 5 and 8%.  Out of that total, Karina Milei allegedly receives 3%, which translates to “between half a million and 800,000 [dollars],” the audio said.

At one point, the voice refers to when Spagnuolo was interviewed by journalist Alejandro Fantino on his streaming show in July 2024. In that conversation, Fantino made a thinly-veiled reference to “Lule” Menem being corrupt and asked Spagnuolo not to allow himself to be “used and then disposed of.”

The recording also references graft accusations involving the drug company Suizo Argentina. In August 2024, lawyer Alejandro Díaz Pascual filed a criminal complaint accusing the disability agency of making direct purchases with Suizo Argentina for almost 30 million pesos (nearly US$23,000) without complying with the tendering procedure.

A source in the ruling party La Libertad Avanza (LLA), involved in the legislative campaign, told the Herald that the scandal could harm Milei’s electoral possibilities for October.

“In theory, we were the champions of morality, and then this nonsense comes out,” said the source. “I think it will have some repercussions, and if this happened on the third day of the campaign, I don’t know what will happen next.”

“Outwardly, we are going to deny everything and feign insanity,” said the source.