Sergio Perovic, husband of former interim mayor Angélica Sosa, died yesterday morning in the town of San Salvador de Jujuy, Argentina, where he had been since February of this year. Perovic was being investigated by the Bolivian Public Ministry for the ‘Prestín’ case. The commission of prosecutors that sees this process, indicated that it is waiting for the documentation that formalizes Perovic’s death to make a decision.
A report issued by the Argentine Police and a forensic certificate were the documents that reached the hands of Jerjes Justiniano Atalá, Sosa’s lawyer, who confirmed the news to the media early yesterday afternoon.
Justiniano, based on the documents received from the neighboring country and without going into details, assured that Perovic took his own life.
“Unfortunately what we can confirm is that (the death) was the product of a deep depression and unfortunately at this time we can no longer count on the presence of the architect”, said Justiniano at a press conference.
Perovic was denounced by the current administration of the Santa Cruz Mayor’s Office for the Prestín case and where He was investigated for the crimes of illicit enrichment and legitimation of illicit profits. According to the investigation carried out by the Public Ministry, the protected witness in the aforementioned case indicated that he managed a bank account following alleged orders from Sosa and Perovic, and from there they made loans to municipal officials, at 10% interest.
According to the complaint, the accumulated capital came from the deposit of the salaries corresponding to the ghost items.
On hold
Regarding the Prestín case, opened against Perovic, Justiniano recalled that According to Bolivian law, the criminal action is extinguished upon the death of the accused, “But the investigation against the other people involved can continue.”
Given these statements, the Prosecutors Commission that is investigating this criminal proceeding, made up of Yolanda Aguilera, Marcela Terceros and Martha Mejía, indicated that they are awaiting official information on the death of Perovic and they remembered that he had to testify on the 30th of this month within the investigation.
“We have an open criminal process, We follow the current regulations, that is why we consider that the information given by lawyers is unofficial and has no validity within the process, until you have the confirmation of some authority of the neighboring country. Therefore, the investigation remains open in national territory,” said prosecutor Aguilera.
within that line, Prosecutor Marcela Terceros maintained that Perovic had already been summoned through international cooperation to testify in Bolivia. “Unofficially we know about his death, that’s why we are waiting to have the death certificate officially, with that information we can later decide if the case will actually be closed.”
On the other hand, the lawyer Jorge Rivero argued that the judicial authorities were asked to grant permission to former mayor Sosa so that she can be released from prison, where she keeps preventive detention for the cases of ghost items and BRT, to travel to the capital of Jujuy and participate in the funeral services of her husband. “It should be allowed and seek cooperation mechanisms so that she can travel escorted, be at the funeral and return to her legal status, which is detained, but we already know how justice is,” she explained.
Rivero added that Sosa, for the moment, remains sedated and under the care of the doctors of the Palmasola prison, because she is “dismayed” after the death of her partner. She also received a visit from her children, who are also speeding up the legal procedures of the request.
In turn, Rolando Cuéllar, deputy for the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS), asked the representatives of the Public Ministry to travel to Argentina to verify Perovic’s death.
“We ask the Santa Cruz Prosecutor’s Office to form a commission of prosecutors to travel to Jujuy, in Argentina, to verify the lifeless body (of Perovic) and the veracity of the forensic certificate. The case cannot be closed yet. You have to recover the money from the people of Santa Cruz,” the parliamentarian wrote on his social networks.
Editor’s note: Psychologists and psychiatrists recommend seeking professional help in cases of severe depression and suicidal ideation.
