Córdoba: preventive detention for the former head of the Policía Caminera for illicit association

District 3 Investigating Prosecutor Guillermo González ordered pretrial detention for Maximiliano Gabriel Ochoa Roldán, former general director of the Caminera Police of Córdoba.

He is accused of leading a criminal organization that operated with the collaboration of police officers, lawyers, and close civilians, and that used confidential information.

According to the accusation, Ochoa Roldán instigated an illicit association dedicated to coercion, illicit enrichment, and abuse of official data.

The investigative operation included searches in police facilities and in various municipalities in search of evidence to support the charges.

Shock over corruption in Córdoba Police

The case caused shock within the province and exposed fissures in the institutional core.

The scandal also reached his inner circle:  his brother, Gastón Ochoa Roldán, was also arrested, on suspicion of participating in cover-up maneuvers and misappropriation.

Judicial sources state that  investigations are ongoing and further measures against other high-ranking individuals involved are not ruled out.

Amid the political and institutional turmoil,  provincial officials are expected to provide public explanations in the coming days.

Individuals involved in the police scandal

There are other individuals involved in this case:

• Gabriel Élido Burkhard (civilian): Accused of illicit association as organizer, illicit enrichment through the use of confidential information and data for profit (repeated necessary participant), coercion, and extortion.
• Martín Darío Heredia (police officer): Member of the illicit association, cover-up by omission of report and aggravated cover-up due to public official status (repeated), illicit enrichment through the use of confidential information and data for profit, and co-author of embezzlement of services.
• Leonardo Javier Torres (police officer): Accused of illicit association as a member.
• Jorge Alberto Gutiérrez (police officer): Member of the illicit association, co-author of embezzlement of service (repeated), and co-author of extortion.
• Gastón Miguel Ochoa Roldán (civilian): Member of the illicit association.
• Finally, Dante Gabriel Villalba (police officer), charged as the alleged perpetrator of illicit association (member), embezzlement of services, and coercion, was released on a real bail of $20,000,000, among other conditions.