The Federal Chamber of Cassation in Argentina has cleared the path to review a ruling that previously dismissed charges against Alfredo Coto and his son, Germán Coto, following the 2016 discovery of an illegal arsenal inside a company warehouse in Buenos Aires.
Internal Federal Police Memorandum Complicates Coto Defense
An internal memorandum from the Argentine Federal Police (PFA), dated May 31, 2018, and produced by the force’s General Directorate of Legal Affairs, indicates that parts of the explosives found inside the Coto facility were never purchased or imported by the institution. According to records cited by REALPOLITIK, the PFA’s Superintendence of Administration confirmed that its Contracting Division had not acquired grenades matching those recovered during inspections.
The investigation dates back to August 2016, when authorities inspected COTO CICSA facilities and discovered unauthorized firearms, ammunition, grenades, tear gas launchers, and explosive materials. The cache was uncovered within a warehouse located at Paysandú 1800 in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, a site housing the company’s central headquarters and administrative offices.
Judicial Scrutiny Over the Origin of the Arsenal
The provenance of the seized weaponry has formed the crux of the protracted legal battle. During court hearings in August 2018, Alfredo Coto maintained that the inventory irregularities stemmed from an “excess of trust” between the company, state security agencies, and private security providers. He asserted that various state security forces utilized company depots during periods of high social unrest—particularly following the crisis of 2001—to store tactical equipment amid fears of looting.
While lower courts initially weighed those explanations, prosecutors and appellate judges have repeatedly challenged the narrative. On May 29, 2018, the National Gendarmerie executed an authorized raid on the PFA Contracting Division to seize physical and digital records linked to Direct Contracting No. 214/07 and any parallel acquisitions of similar explosive devices. Internal PFA documents indicate that the search yielded negative results regarding official procurement of the disputed items.
Further complicating the defense strategy, the Federal Chamber of Cassation’s Fourth Chamber previously highlighted a stark inconsistency during a May 2023 ruling. Although defense filings argued that the arsenal remained in company custody following joint operations with security branches, investigators found material marked as received by the Naval Prefecture. Representatives of the Prefecture subsequently testified that their personnel had never conducted operations or maintained service details at Coto establishments.
Cassation Reopens the Legal Debate Over Executive Responsibility
The upcoming review by the highest criminal court follows a contested procedural history. In August, the First Chamber of the Buenos Aires Federal Court voted to dismiss charges against Alfredo and Germán Coto for alleged unlawful possession of explosive, flammable, or toxic materials and illegal stockpiling of firearms. However, Federal Prosecutor José Luis Agüero Iturbe filed an appeal to overturn the dismissal.
Judges Pablo Bertuzzi and Pablo Yadarola ultimately validated the prosecution’s challenge, overriding a dissenting vote from colleague Mariano Llorens. The prosecution targeted the previous appellate reasoning, which had concluded that the sheer size of the supermarket chain—employing over 20,000 workers across numerous branches—made it implausible for top executives like the president and vice president to personally oversee day-to-day security and logistics operations.
With the Federal Chamber of Cassation now authorized to examine the case files anew, the legal proceedings return to the judiciary nearly a decade after the initial seizure on Paysandú Street.
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