Charges and preventive detention
Federal judge Julián Ercolini has processed four inmates held in Jujuy prisons and ordered them kept in preventive detention, according to the ruling. The defendants are Cristian Mariano Ariel Acho, Sebastián Ariel López, Walter Rodrigo Vargas and Ramón Atilio Ríos. Ercolini treated them as co-authors of illicit association, fraud, extortion and usurpation of authority, with the association charge combined with the others.[S1][S2]
The investigation places the group's operations at Penal Establishment No. 7 of the Jujuy Penitentiary Service, in San Salvador de Jujuy. According to the case file, the network was active at least from November 2024 until October 30, 2025. The ruling describes the inmates as prima facie members of the organization.[S1][S2]
How the scheme allegedly worked
Prosecutors say the inmates relied on multiple phone lines, SIM cards, digital wallets, bank accounts and payment aliases to gather information about detainees and their relatives. They kept handsets hidden in their cells and used WhatsApp profiles carrying the Supreme Court chief's photograph, images of the Tribunals building or the court's name. Posing as Rosatti, they contacted police, prison and security force offices to request lists and personal or administrative data on people deprived of liberty.[S1][S2]
That information was then used to reach relatives and acquaintances and demand money in exchange for a promised release, bail, surety or judicial procedure. The file also records a second method: the group pretended to represent private companies awarding prizes such as cash, vehicles or appliances, then asked for transfers to cover supposed processing costs. The defendants referred to these activities as work.[S1][S2]
One attributed episode involves Claudio Ariel Sarmiento, who allegedly transferred 450,000 pesos to the alias poderjudicial.mp after calls telling him he had to pay a surety to secure the release of his stepson, held at the Ezeiza federal penitentiary complex. Ercolini's ruling states that the use of Rosatti's name, image and office showed full awareness of claiming an authority the defendants did not hold.[S1][S2]
Origins of the case and prison searches
The case began on November 25, 2024, after a call to the Federal Police's Special Investigations Department. A man identified himself as the head of the Supreme Court and asked for data on detainees and their relatives' phone numbers, citing a human rights survey. Tracing the call placed it near the Jujuy prison, and the inquiry proceeded through wiretaps, line cross-checks, telephone company reports, account records and searches inside the facility.[S1][S2]
During searches in December 2024, authorities seized cellphones, SIM cards, Bibles and books containing notes on aliases, phone numbers, bank codes and payment recipients tied to the scheme. The ruling notes that the criminal activity did not even slow after those procedures, including the seizure of the phone used for the first call that opened the file.[S1][S2]
