Scandal in La Pampa: a renowned surgeon accused of abuse trouted certificates to obtain domiciliary

A judicial scandal broke out in the case of the arrest of cardiosurgeon Jorge Luis Rigutto (56) -in preventive detention for a case of sexual abuse- who revealed the payment of money for medical certificates and exams to justify a house arrest.

Now a judge ordered sanctions against the doctors, there is a legal case, an investigation into a member of the Superior Court of Justice and Rigutto was ordered to return to a common jail.

The heart surgeon -a nationally recognized doctor, with advanced cardiology surgeries- was arrested on March 9, 2021 for a cause of sexual abuse with carnal access. He also had convictions for gender violence and wiretaps were known in which he intended to hire a hitman to resolve a conflict with another professional.

During the rest of the year, there were several hearings to analyze the preventive measure. This Thursday there was another, requested by the prosecutor Water Martos to review the house arrest that Rigutto enjoyed until February 28, 2023.

But at the hearing a scandal broke out. Martos exhibited audios produced in another case: these wiretaps reveal that Rigutto ordered and requested adulterated medical certificates.

Prosecutor Martos explained that the case in which the audios were produced (there were also raids) began when the forensic doctor Pablo Véliz received a message from the doctor Rigutto (in house arrest and with access to a cell phone) saying that he should come "to fix some numbers."

Véliz had already made a report refuting other medical certificates. That is why he blocked Rigutto and filed a complaint with Attorney General Guillermo Sancho. A judge authorized the wiretapping.

From those audios - according to what Martos exposed for two and a half hours - it emerged that Rigutto made requests to the doctors Juan Carlos Toulouse and Facundo Farías and the nurse Williams Tejeda for false certificates and reports.

"In one case, Rigutto gave the name of a patient of his, with serious heart problems and they inserted the echocardiogram of that patient. And if he had 10-12 pressure, they put 14-20," explained a judicial source. "Rigutto also said: 'I put chronic stress and extreme insomnia, what do I not sleep for three days,'" added that source.

With the wiretapping, the hearing judge Martín Miguez -in charge of the cause of the abuse- ordered sanctions for the doctor Toulousse (who made the forensic report in the case of Lucio Dupuy) with a one-time fine of 50% of the salary, and pushed aside the doctor Farías and the nurse Williams.

The lawyer José Mario Aguerrido -who represents the victim in the case of abuse- requested that the case be referred to the Superior Court of Justice for an investigation, because one of its members and another judicial official are named as possible managers before a medical expert in favor of Rigutto.

In addition, the case was referred to the Higher Medical Council to analyze whether sanctions are applicable against the doctors involved, Toulouse and Farias.

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The defendant is Jorge Rigutto (56), a nationally recognized heart surgeon who is imprisoned in a case for sexual abuse.

In this case, audios were released in which Rigutto negotiated the hiring of a hit man. These audios were provided by Aguerrido to request the preventive detention of Rigutto. "With these audios we want to show what he is capable of," said the victim's lawyer.

The audios reveal the negotiation between two people: one wants to hire another to "shoot" a third in the leg.

The voice -which is identified as Rigutto's- of the person who hires the hitman's services provides him with details of the name, profession and work address (in Bahía Blanca), as well as the victim's document number. phone "of this mine". He boasts that he knows it by heart "because we're still on trial."

Both agree on the place where the attack would take place. Rigutto asks: "Where does the shot go, in the leg to what place?" And the interlocutor answers: "He goes on the shrimp, on the knee", the interlocutor answers. "Yes, there, there, on the knee", he asks when making the contract and is interested: "But are they right, how are these guys? Do they hole it? Because the play is not easy...".

Rigutto's lawyer, Omar Gebreurs, denied what happened at the hearing. "They validated audios from another cause, which is not known how they started. Everything is invalid, the right to defense was violated," he said. According to the lawyer, the intervention of Rigutto's cell phone was "a fishing excursion", in the jargon of the Supreme Court doctrine, which would invalidate everything.

The Pampa. Correspondent.

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With the wiretapping, the hearing judge Martín Miguez -in charge of the cause of the abuse- ordered sanctions for the doctor Toulousse (who made the forensic report in the case of Lucio Dupuy) with a one-time fine of 50% of the salary, and pushed aside the doctor Farías and the nurse Williams.