Former Tandanor Manager Investigated Over Alleged Bribe as Authorities Seize $367,110

An internal audit at Argentina's state-owned Tandanor shipyard has opened the way to a corruption case and the seizure of $367,110 in cash, along with documents and electronic devices.

The main person under investigation is Julio Eduardo Galle, who served as the public company's commercial manager, according to Infobae. The inquiry also involves Antonio Alejandro Napoleone, director of Lucrimar SA, a company that owed Tandanor money for services.

Investigators suspect Galle offered to forgive a debt of about $200,000 in exchange for a payment. The alleged scheme may have harmed the state company's assets. The case is being examined under bribery and breach-of-fiduciary-duty offenses involving public administration.

Tandanor filed the complaint after an internal audit, ordered following a change in the company's authorities, found irregularities in the collection of service fees. The absence of receipts linked to services provided to Lucrimar led the company to report the matter to federal prosecutors, who began reconstructing the financial movements and relationships among those involved.

Judge Sebastián Casanello, who heads Federal Criminal and Correctional Court No. 7, ordered five searches. Federal Police agents carried out four in Buenos Aires and one in Mar del Plata. Investigators found part of the seized dollars in a bank safe in downtown Buenos Aires, which was sealed by court order. The rest of the cash was found in an apartment included among the search targets.

The searches also produced 12.7 million Argentine pesos, mobile phones, computers, tablets, flash drives, bank documents and records tied to contracts and commercial operations. A handwritten receipt allegedly recording a $100,000 payment between people linked to the scheme was also added to the case file. Investigators will subject it to expert analysis to determine its origin, authorship and eventual evidentiary value.