Original article: Suprema deja firmes condenas por facturas falsas en el corazón financiero del Ejército

Supreme Court Affirms Sentences in Tecnodata Case Involving False Invoices in the Army’s Financial System

The Supreme Court has closed a new chapter in the so-called Army Fraud Case by rejecting the appeal against the Martial Court’s ruling related to Tecnodata. As a result, the sentences for falsification in military administration against former officials involved in a scheme utilizing false invoices in the Army remain intact, operating within the circuit that handled and authorized fiscal resources.

The ruling from the highest court confirmed the penalties imposed on Fernando Cristián Grossi García and Jozo Aurelio Santic Palomino, both sentenced to 5 years and one day in prison. In this case, Clovis Montero Barra will serve a 5-year sentence, while María Luisa Gatica Barría received a 4-year sentence. Concurrently, the ruling upheld the acquittal regarding the crime of defrauding the Treasury but reaffirmed the criminal responsibility of those involved for the falsification of the documentation used.

How False Invoices Operated in the Army

The investigation led by the visiting judge of the Martial Court, Romy Rutherford, established that during 2011 and 2012, officials from the Army’s finance department managed and secured improper payments to Tecnodata S.A. for alleged purchases of computer supplies that were never received. In these cases, invoices were created with descriptions aligned to pre-agreed amounts, and the necessary supporting documentation for payment was fabricated.

This scheme was sustained not only with false papers but also required signatures, approvals, and delivery receipts to create a facade of legitimacy for non-existent purchases. It was established that individuals who were supposed to certify the receipt of the supplies were made to sign, even though those products had never entered the institution. Thus, the invoices proceeded through their administrative course until they reached the Finance Department and were ultimately paid with public funds.

The Circuit of Money and Phantom Purchases

Once the Army transferred resources to Tecnodata’s account, «who acted as the company’s representative to the Army«, withdrew the money, kept a portion for himself, and delivered the remainder, either in cash or in kind, to the official who had requested the invoices. The investigation also found that this was done with the knowledge and authorization of the then Director of Finance of the Army, who even approved extraordinary remittances when funds were insufficient to cover those payments.

The details of the case include 43 invoices and a total amount of $41,342,230 paid for supposed non-existent computer supplies. Therefore, this was not merely an isolated irregularity or a simple accounting mess, but rather a method of operation that exploited the Army’s own administrative channels to process payments without real backing.

The ruling leaves a difficult-to-disguise certainty: the false invoices in the Army did not bypass the institution but flowed through its financial machinery, with signatures, approvals, and payments processed as if everything was in order. And when fraud becomes part of the procedure, it is no longer sufficient to focus on a few individuals; there exists a structure that responded.