Former Santa Fe prosecutor arrested over alleged illegal handling of court-account funds

Former Santa Fe prosecutor Mariano Ríos Artacho was among nine people arrested in an investigation into alleged illegal handling of funds held in judicial accounts.

Argentina’s Federal Police said the accounts were linked to cases handled by Santa Fe’s Public Prosecutor’s Office. Investigators believe the alleged offenses occurred between 2017 and 2024, when Ríos Artacho served as a prosecutor.

The inquiry was carried out by the Rosario Special Investigations Operational Unit, under the authority of prosecutor Adrián Spelta’s specialized unit for crimes committed by public officials and institutional violence. Police said they identified several people who may have been directly connected to activities involving Ríos Artacho.

A Rosario judicial panel authorized searches at 13 properties in Santa Fe and Córdoba. The locations included addresses in the cities of Santa Fe and Rosario, as well as Funes, Oliva, Río Segundo, and Villa María.

Federal operational units from Córdoba and Santa Fe arrested nine people, seven men and two women. Police seized a 16-gauge shotgun, several doses of marijuana, 17 mobile phones, seven laptops, five tablets, four computer processing units, five USB drives, more than 2 million pesos, U.S. dollars, and documents.