In another case of police corruption, First Corporal of the Córdoba Police, Ignacio Matías Barrionuevo, 38 years old, was sentenced to one and a half years in prison for stealing detainees' belongings during his daily duties.
The case was processed in Tribunales II of Córdoba.
Barrionuevo had been detained for more than five months in Bouwer prison and now must serve one more year behind bars.
El cabo fue imputado como autor de estafas reiteradas, de tentativas de estafa y de hurto doblemente calificado.
The corporal was charged as the perpetrator of repeated fraud, attempted fraud, and doubly aggravated theft.
He will no longer wear the uniform, as he himself acknowledged during the proceedings.
His partner, Raquel Elizabeth Roldán (36), also acknowledged her responsibility in the summary trial.
She was sentenced to one year of suspended imprisonment as a co-perpetrator of several frauds.
This condition leaves her free, although under strict rules: she must comply with a series of judicial obligations.
The modus operandi of the Córdoba police officer
Barrionuevo worked at the 8th police station, in Patricios neighborhood, in the northeastern area of Córdoba's capital.
There he was supposed to perform guard duties and safeguard the belongings of detainees.
However, as was proven, he took advantage of that privileged access to appropriate personal and banking data of those arrested.
At night, he would go through wallets and documents that were under official custody, take photos of cards and documents with his cell phone, and send them via WhatsApp to his partner.
She, from her home, made online purchases, transfers to virtual wallets, and phone top-ups.
In some cases, the frauds were carried out, and the victims ended up paying for someone else's expenses.
In others, the attempts were thwarted by banking security measures. However, all the episodes added up to evidence that turned out to be overwhelming.
The detail that most caught the investigators' attention was that some of the photos sent to Roldán had the police station's guard book as a background, a recklessness that made it clear that the data had been obtained inside the police facility.
