Deputy Marcela Pagano filed a criminal complaint with the Comodoro Py courts on Tuesday seeking to investigate alleged irregularities in six no-bid contracting procedures handled by the Chief of Staff of Ministers for Pope Leo XIV’s official visit to Argentina, worth at least 20.35 billion pesos (about 13 million dollars) in public funds, targeting officials in President Javier Milei’s administration.
The complaint centers on Direct Contracting for Urgency No. 79-0012-CDI26, under which DF Entertainment S.A. received 8.69 billion pesos for full production of the November 9 Mass and the November 10 vigil. Although three firms were invited — the legal minimum — only DF Entertainment submitted a proposal, approved on October 23. Pagano argued the visit was planned months in advance and questioned how the urgency was accredited, noting that Article 25 of Decree 1023/2001 requires objectively proven urgency.
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Five other processes under the same exceptional modality covered generators, fencing, LED screens, sound, lighting and broadcasting, exceeding 20.35 billion pesos without any public tender. The lawmaker asked the court to rule on the procedures’ legality and to incorporate complete files, offers, contracts and invoices.
The complaint also scrutinizes Tech Security S.R.L., responsible for private security, and Purgato S.A., whose corporate records list Fernando Nicolás Menem, Pablo Ariel Vázquez and Eduardo Adrián Menem, brother of Chamber of Deputies President Martín Menem. Pagano said DF was placed in charge of integral security and access control but that no public document reveals its subcontractors, which do not appear in the COMPR.AR system.
On social media, Pagano pointed at Karina Milei, general secretary of the Presidency and the president’s sister, saying the Mass was not free for the faithful and that the visit had been turned into a multibillion business for friends. She also contrasted the treatment of VIP guests, who enjoyed a reserved area for 4,000 people with air conditioning and state-funded catering, with security workers paid 55,000 pesos for shifts of up to 20 hours guarding fences on Libertador Avenue.
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