Judiciary drops charges against Alberto Fernández in insurance corruption case

Former Argentine President Alberto Fernández saw his charges dropped by the judiciary in an investigation focused on an alleged fraud scheme over state insurance policies during his administration, between late 2019 and 2023. On Wednesday, the Federal Court of Criminal Cassation — in charge of reviewing decisions made by lower courts — decided to annul the charges against Fernández, which had been confirmed in November. The former president was charged with engaging in “dealings incompatible with the public office” for his alleged role in ensuring commission payments to brokers who acted as intermediaries in the purchase of insurance policies within the national administration. The investigation 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 later struck down by his successor, President Javier Milei.  Also accused in the case is Héctor Martínez Sosa, Fernández’s friend and husband of his personal secretary, María Cantero. Both remain charged. According to the judiciary, Martínez Sosa was the head of an insurance intermediary firm that earned most of the commission earnings between 2020 and 2023. He also led other intermediary groups. All of them had minimal earnings in 2019, before Fernández came into power, and grew exponentially after a couple of years. The case against Fernández The investigation began in 2024. Ex President Fernández was charged in July 2025. The Criminal Appeals Chamber confirmed the charges in November 2025 and Fernández was prosecuted and banned from leaving the country. Now, the cassation court reviewed the ruling and two of the three judges voted to annul the charges. Back in November, the prosecutor in the case had asked the appeals chamber to revoke the charges against Fernández and to declare a “lack of merit” — a judicial term that means there was not enough evidence found against a defendant, which can lead to acquitting them.  Fernández’s defense team then requested the cassation court to review the charges, on the grounds that both the defense and the prosecution agreed there was not enough evidence against Fernández. The cassation court has now agreed with this view and the charges were dropped.