Sister of Supreme Court Minister benefits from donation by tax evasion accused

The sister of a Supreme Court Minister in Paraguay is slated to receive a 5 million Paraguayan guaraní donation from an individual accused of tax evasion. This contribution is part of a social reparation agreement for Jacob Penner Thiessen, who is seeking a conditional suspension of proceedings for alleged document forgery and tax evasion.

The resolution allowing the conditional suspension was issued by Judge Rodrigo Estigarribia. The prosecutor's office argued that Penner had paid the evaded taxes and a fine totaling over 1.6 billion guaraníes. Penner has no prior record and faces a potential sentence of less than two years imprisonment.

Estigarribia mandated that Penner pay 20 million guaraníes in social reparation. Of this amount, 10 million will go to the Lions Club Barrio Bernardino Caballero, 5 million to the "Abrazo para Maxi" campaign, and the remaining 5 million to the Directorate of Personnel Welfare. This directorate is headed by Nury Llanes, sister of Supreme Court Minister María Carolina Llanes.

This is not the first time Nury Llanes's department has received such donations. In 2024, the same judge granted a conditional suspension to Juan Robert Jiménez Rolón, who was ordered to donate over 112 million guaraníes to the Directorate of Personnel Welfare. However, records indicate Jiménez only paid three installments of the total amount.