Woah. I didn't hear about this. I just asked Gemini about it and it confirmed this grift.
The Disability Agency Bribery Scandal (August 2025)
The most explosive allegation emerged in August 2025 when a local streaming channel published secretly recorded audio of Diego Spagnuolo, the former director of the National Disability Agency (ANDIS) and President Milei’s former personal lawyer.
In the leaked tapes, Spagnuolo described an extensive kickback scheme involving government contracts for disability medicines with a pharmaceutical distributor called Suizo Argentina.
- The Alleged Theft: According to the recordings, laboratories were required to pay up to an 8% kickback to secure state contracts, with 3% to 4% of that—amounting to roughly $500,000 to $800,000 a month—going directly to Karina Milei.
- The "Stealing" Quote: In one of the most damaging audio clips, Spagnuolo claimed he tried to warn the President, saying: "I told him, 'Javier, you know they're stealing, that your sister is stealing, you can't play dumb.'" Spagnuolo also claimed to have kept all of his WhatsApp messages with Karina as leverage.
- The Fallout: Following the leak, President Milei fired Spagnuolo. Federal judges ordered raids on the offices and homes of those involved, resulting in the seizure of $266,000 in cash from a pharmacy executive who was reportedly caught trying to flee.
On
December 30, 2025, the Milei administration officially announced the dissolution of the National Disability Agency (ANDIS) as an autonomous entity. Its remaining functions were absorbed into the Ministry of Health as a lower-level directorate, resulting in massive layoffs and structural downsizing.
How this was interpreted depends heavily on who you ask:
The Government's Explanation: Chief of Cabinet Manuel Adorni announced the closure during a press conference, stating that ANDIS "as we know it, will cease to exist." The administration justified the shutdown by claiming the agency was plagued by administrative chaos, bureaucratic inefficiency, and corruption. They pointed to their own audits, which they claimed uncovered tens of thousands of improperly awarded disability pensions, framing the closure as part of Milei's broader "chainsaw" austerity and anti-corruption push.
The Opposition's View: Critics and political opponents immediately called foul, pointing out the incredibly convenient timing. Because ANDIS was the exact agency at the center of the massive bribery and kickback scandal involving his sister Karina Milei and former director Diego Spagnuolo, opposition lawmakers accused the administration of destroying the crime scene. One prominent lawmaker called it an "impunity plan," arguing that the government deliberately eliminated the agency to cover the tracks of the bribes, severely damaging the disability sector and its beneficiaries in the process.
This is NOT looking good for the Milei's. It just seems repeated. No wonder his approval numbers are going down.
