The ARCA filed a complaint for aggravated evasion against another of the laboratories investigated for contaminated fentanyl.

The General Tax Directorate filed a new criminal complaint against ALFARMA SRL, a company associated with Ariel García Furfaro, owner of HLB Pharma, for alleged aggravated VAT evasion in 2021 and 2022 amounting to more than 112 million pesos. Last week, HLB Pharma had been charged with the same offense in previous years.

The total amount of the evasion is $112,774,108.

The complaint, filed with the National Economic Criminal Court, accuses the company of using counterfeit invoices and improper tax credits, as well as failing to apportion VAT as required by current regulations.

During the audit, it was found that the firm counted transactions with suppliers included in the false taxpayer database as tax credits and submitted misleading tax returns, which constitutes—according to the Tax Criminal Regime—an evasion maneuver aggravated by the amount and the use of false documentation.

The facts under investigation directly implicate the company's partners and officers: Carlos Antonio Tita, Oscar Alberto Ruffinengo, Ariel García Furfaro, and Damián Roberto García, who may have knowingly and voluntarily participated in the reported schemes.

Last week, ARCA filed a complaint against HLB PHARMA GROUP SA for aggravated tax evasion. The company, part of the same corporate group, evaded paying more than 7 million pesos in Value Added Tax (VAT) during 2019 and 2020.

The complaint has been formally filed and is currently under investigation. According to Law 27,430, the penalties for these crimes range from three and a half to nine years in prison.

The HLB Pharma laboratory and its subsidiary, Laboratorios Ramallo, located in that city, are under investigation by the federal courts for the deaths of at least 52 people who were given contaminated fentanyl produced by those companies.

Federal Judge Ernesto Kreplak of La Plata is in charge of the case. He ordered the search of 22 homes linked to the laboratories. He had previously raided the locations where the fentanyl was produced.

The company's public face is Ariel García Furfaro, a businessman who built a network of political connections and even traveled to Russia during the pandemic with former President Alberto Fernández's delegation to distribute the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine. He also visited the Instituto Patria and has photos with Cristina Kirchner.

García Furfaro had strong ties with governors, trying to break into the drug sales business in the provinces, and he even ventured into the media business when he partnered with Víctor Santa María, the head of the media managers' union, in Canal IP.