Disability as a Business in Argentina: Former ANDIS Chief Charged with «Organized Crime» and Price Gouging of Up to 1,960%

Original article: La discapacidad como negocio en Argentina: procesan al exjefe de ANDIS por “asociación ilícita” y sobreprecios de hasta 1.960%

Diego Spagnuolo, former director of the National Disability Agency (ANDIS) under the government of Javier Milei, has been charged with alleged bribery, state fraud, and organized crime. The court determined that the institution was «co-opted» and used as a means of personal enrichment through rigged tenders, undermining the care of people with disabilities.

A ruling exposing a corruption scheme that impacts the rights of the most vulnerable revealed that federal judge Sebastián Casanello processed Spagnuolo and 18 others on charges of being part of an «organized crime» group that diverted public funds intended for people with disabilities, mothers with more than seven children, and elderly people living in poverty.

The resolution outlines a planned scheme of illicit enrichment, operating alongside a budget cut in the sector, revealing price gouging in medications that reached an astonishing 1,960.48 percent.

“An agency intended to ensure the right to health and well-being for persons with disabilities, mothers of many children, and elderly individuals in poverty became a quick enrichment opportunity for its leadership, at the expense of public funds meant to safeguard these essential rights,” declared the magistrate in his resolution.

The investigated period, spanning from late 2023 to October 2025, coincides with the «libertarian» government’s decision to cut disability funding and disregard the emergency voted on in Congress, which has recently been regulated with uncertain results.

According to Casanello, based on evidence presented by prosecutor Franco Picardi, ANDIS was «co-opted» in a planned manner and «used as a means of enrichment for members of the organization, clearly undermining the public purpose that should have guided its actions: the protection and care for people with disabilities.»

The Criminal Structure and Accomplices

The illicit organization included not only former officials from the libertarian administration of various ranks operating from within the agency but also individuals who had previously served and subsequently worked for private health interests, along with a group of individuals linked to four pharmaceutical firms systematically favored in arbitrary awards.

These firms—Profarma, Génesis, New Farma, and Floresta S.A.—were connected through various means to lobbyist and businessman Miguel Ángel Calvete, one of the leaders of the organized crime group alongside Spagnuolo, Daniel Garbellini (former head of Access to Health Services), and Pablo Atchabahian, who held the same position as Garbellini during the government of Mauricio Macri.

The ruling suggests the scheme could have higher-level ramifications. “The criminal scheme revealed appears to have still vague margins and may not be exhausted in the proven facts so far,” noted Casanello.

“The extent of the business, the significance of the figures, and a certain boldness (e.g., ignoring complaints from displaced businesspeople or dissenting officials) suggest that it was not something contained and could have another level of complicity,” he added in his ruling.

This judicial warning resonates with intercepted audio from Spagnuolo—unutilized in this resolution—where officials were directly mentioned, including Karina Milei, the general secretary of the presidency and sister of the president, and Eduardo “Lule” Menem, a presidential advisor.

According to Página/12, references to officials from Casa Rosada appear indirectly in WhatsApp chats. For instance, when Spagnuolo appointed Daniel Garbellini in June 2024, Patricio Rama, one of the owners of the involved pharmaceutical companies, sent a message featuring an illustration of aligned planets. This “alignment” was reflected in a message from Pablo Atchabahian to Calvete: “Hey Miguelito, Dani (Garbellini) just called me, he was with the bald guy (Spagnuolo) chatting, and he said the same thing to you about Caputito, and, well, the same feeling. So, well, I just informed ‘the Helvetian’; he’s already aware of everything. He said he’d inform Rioja (¿Menem?) today, so we’re all aligned on the same page.”

In other messages, Mariano Caballi spoke about “getting to Karina,” who “is the one who decides everything.”

Mechanism of Embezzlement: Price Gouging and Privileged Pharmacies

The heart of the organized crime group was based on direct and restricted awards to the four pharmaceutical firms. Profarma and Génesis accounted for 93.11% of the «special» awards from ANDIS between July 2024 and August 2025, where competition on pricing was merely superficial. New Farma and Floresta S.A. garnered 51.67% of the awards in 2025 for cochlear implants, hearing aids, and related supplies. The former two firms alone billed over 30 billion Argentine pesos.

The investigation revealed that the tenders violated basic publicity requirements—nothing was published on the official «compra.ar» portal—and that Luciana Ferrari, a former ANDIS employee who later worked for Roche, had a key to access the Integrated Information and Administration of Benefits System (SIIAP), from which these arbitrary awards were organized.

Remodeling, Travel, and Cash Dollars

Contrary to his statements before the court, the judge determined that Spagnuolo not only witnessed the bribes but was an active participant in the scheme. “It has been reconstructed that the official received significant sums of money—both in cash and in kind—directly provided according to need by Calvete himself,” ruled Casanello.

In addition to requesting five million pesos in cash for a trip to Israel, it was shown that Calvete paid off Spagnuolo’s debts with a furniture manufacturer, making payments through the company Indecomm SRL amounting to 1,500,000, 3,448,000, and 5,021,500 pesos.

Another symbol of illicit enrichment is the enlargement of the “gallery with grill” at Spagnuolo’s residence.

Architect Fabián Andrés Urroz testified that “the project was budgeted at approximately 51,000,000 pesos. The client did not pay in full. In that sense, we received an advance in the form of a deposit of USD 20,000, at that time equivalent to $26,600,000. Then on September 27, 2024, we received USD 10,000… He paid me in cash and in dollars.”

The judge estimated that the total cost of the renovation, including extras, might have approached 40,000 dollars, all funded through illicit sources, reported Página/12.

During a raid at the home of Ornella Calvete, daughter of the lobbyist and employee of the Ministry of Economy, 700,000 dollars, nearly 20 million pesos, and 1,960 euros were seized. She was also processed, and in chats reproduced in the case, she was seen offering her father’s products to the state: “Rest assured that Profarma won’t screw us over because it’s my dad.”

The Indicted and the Seizures

The judge processed Spagnuolo, Calvete, Garbellini, and Atchabahian for organized crime (as heads of the network), incompatible negotiations, and aggravated fraud. For Spagnuolo, bribery was also proven. The seizure against the former ANDIS chief is set at 202,828,725,464 pesos, the highest on the list. The lowest, yet still in the millions, is for Guadalupe Muñoz, Calvete’s partner: 94,773,204,489 pesos.

The list of those indicted includes former officials such as Eduardo Nelio “Pino” González, Diego Martin D’Giano, Roger Grant, and Lorena Di Giorno (the latter being highly trusted by Calvete and a business partner); businessmen like Andrés Horacio Arnaudo (Génesis), Silvana Vanina Escudero, and Patricio Rama (New Farma), Alejandro Gastón Acosta (Floresta), and Federico Santich (Calvete’s partner); and close associates of the lobbyist like Julio César Viera, Patricia Canavesio, and the already mentioned Guadalupe Muñoz.

This case, which will soon transfer to another federal court due to the end of Casanello’s replacement, reveals a deep wound: the systematic conversion of public policy for the most vulnerable into a money-making machine for a few, while Javier Milei’s administration denied people with disabilities full access to their rights.

The magistrate was emphatic: the investigation “should not overlook such aspects, but rather they must be clarified and deepened.”