Bolivia Files Illicit Enrichment Charge Against Adviser Cerimedo
Bolivia · JUSTICE
Key Facts
- —Declaration Cerimedo told prosecutors on 28 August 2026 he earns close to US$1 million monthly.
- —Charge Prosecutors filed a formal illicit enrichment case against the Argentine consultant on 28 August.
- —Seizures Five raids on 20 and 21 August produced cash, telephones and documents.
- —Palace Paz says Cerimedo never had authorization to represent the Presidency, government or family.
- —Same man The attempted femicide detainee of 18 August is Cerimedo, not another adviser.
Prosecutors in Santa Cruz filed a formal charge hours after the Argentine consultant described his monthly earnings.
Fernando Cerimedo told Bolivian prosecutors on 28 August 2026 that he earns close to US$1 million a month. Hours later Bolivia’s Public Prosecutor’s Office moved the illicit enrichment case against him from inquiry to formal charge.
What Cerimedo told prosecutors in Santa Cruz
Fernando Cerimedo gave a statement to Bolivian prosecutors on 28 August 2026 in Santa Cruz de la Sierra. He answered as a formally accused person, not as a witness.
The session took place where he is already held, at the Palmasola prison complex. Prosecutor Miguel Cardozo said afterwards that many of his answers were evasive.
Cerimedo told investigators he earns close to US$1 million a month from work outside Bolivia. He said the money comes from companies he owns with his wife.
He also confirmed that President Rodrigo Paz was his main contact inside the government. Asked what he did after the election, he said the question had nothing to do with the case.
The million-dollar figure and what it covers
The figure refers to company revenue rather than a declared personal salary. Bolivian outlets reported the sum as close to US$1 million a month during 2025.
He named Numen Group Inc in the United States and Numen de Publicidad in Argentina. He also cited a training academy and an audiovisual production firm held with his wife.
Not every outlet reported the same number, and the discrepancy is unresolved here. Some Argentine media put the figure at more than half a million dollars a month instead.
Prosecutors have not accepted the explanation as proof that the money was lawful. They argue his assets grew out of proportion during 2025 and 2026, which is the core allegation.
Who Fernando Cerimedo is
Cerimedo is an Argentine media operator who founded La Derecha Diario, a right-wing outlet. He built it into a network with editions in several countries.
In 2023 he worked as a digital strategist for Javier Milei’s La Libertad Avanza. He had earlier built ties to Brazil’s Bolsonarist circles during the 2022 campaign there.
After Brazil’s 2022 vote he promoted claims of irregularities in the voting system. Brazil’s electoral court rejected those claims, and federal police examined the networks behind them.
He then moved much of his work to Bolivia and taught at his own marketing academy. He advised during the 2025 election and joined the runoff effort behind Rodrigo Paz.
How the inquiry became a formal charge
The inquiry began as an ex officio investigation opened by the departmental prosecutors in La Paz. Bolivia’s Public Prosecutor’s Office is itself the complainant in the file.
Investigators raided five properties linked to Cerimedo on 20 and 21 August 2026. They seized more than Bs 500,000 (US$41,900 at the Banco Central de Bolivia rate of Bs 11.92 on 29 August 2026).
Officers also removed dollars, euros, telephones and what prosecutors described as a small bot farm. A La Paz authority issued an arrest warrant against him on 26 August 2026.
That warrant cited Article 226 of Bolivia’s Code of Criminal Procedure. The offence is illicit enrichment by private individuals affecting the state, which is distinct from official corruption.
On 28 August the prosecution said the charging resolution would be filed within hours. Bolivian outlets reported the same day that it landed, moving the illicit enrichment case past its preliminary stage.
What the Palacio Quemado says
President Rodrigo Paz addressed the affair in a message distributed by the Presidency on 26 August 2026. He said Cerimedo never had authorization to represent him, the Presidency, the government or his family.
Paz added that there was never a contract and therefore never a direct working relationship. He said institutional representation runs through ministers, vice-ministers or a presidential delegate.
He did acknowledge that contact was made for the 2025 runoff campaign. Paz described Cerimedo as a strategist of worldwide recognition who worked on that second round.
The presidential spokesman has accepted that Cerimedo gave digital communication advice after the vote. The Palacio Quemado denies that this ever amounted to a formal post inside the state.
The evidence that cuts against the denial
Prosecutors say a search turned up business cards naming Cerimedo as principal adviser to the president. The cards carried an official presidential email domain, according to case material cited in Bolivia.
Testimony in the file says he helped draft at least two supreme decrees and one law. Nadia Beller, his former partner, has stated that he joined cabinet meetings.
None of these claims has been tested in court, and Cerimedo rejects all of them. They remain allegations inside an active file rather than findings of fact.
He has called the whole matter an attempted coup against the Paz government. His defence says it will ask for the illicit enrichment case to be placed under reserve.
Two cases, one man, not two advisers
Bolivia is pursuing Cerimedo in more than one file, and the names can be confusing. The attempted femicide case and the illicit enrichment case involve the same person.
On 17 August 2026 gunmen shot the lawyer Nadia Beller outside a hotel in Santa Cruz de la Sierra. She survived, and her complaint named Cerimedo as the person behind it.
Police detained him at Viru Viru airport the next day, on 18 August 2026. A court then ordered 180 days of preventive detention at the Palmasola prison.
The financial inquiry grew out of the searches carried out in that first case. There is no second Paz adviser behind these headlines, only one man facing separate charges.
What happens next
Prosecutors say they will seek six months of preventive detention in the enrichment file. They want him moved to Chonchocoro, the maximum security prison on the altiplano near La Paz.
A precautionary measures hearing has already been rescheduled once, and no new date is confirmed. Until a judge rules, the six-month request remains a request and nothing more.
For Paz the political cost is the harder problem, less than a year into his term. His government took office in late 2025 promising a break from the previous administration.
Foreign investors tracking Bolivia’s currency and fuel troubles now have a governance question too. The illicit enrichment case tests how far the courts will follow money into the president’s circle.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Fernando Cerimedo the same adviser detained in the attempted femicide case?
Yes. The man detained on 18 August 2026 in Santa Cruz is the same Fernando Cerimedo now facing the illicit enrichment case.
What exactly did Cerimedo say about his income?
He told prosecutors his companies outside Bolivia bring in close to US$1 million a month. He named firms in the United States and Argentina held jointly with his wife.
Has a Bolivian court convicted him of anything?
No. He is charged and held in preventive detention, and no verdict has been issued in either case.
Connected Coverage
Sources
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- lapatria.bo
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- chequeado.com
- www.infobae.com
- www.perfil.com
- www.ellitoral.com
- lapatria.bo
- www.bcb.gob.bo
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