Garza municipal commission hit by cyberattack

Garza’s Municipal Commission in Santiago del Estero is under investigation after a cyberattack and a banking scheme involving $15 million. Commissioner Marcos Tenaglia confirmed the incident, but said the transfer did not go through, while another news report said the complaint describes a fraudulent transaction already carried out from the municipality’s official account.

What happened in the municipality?

The version shared by Marcos Tenaglia says the Government Secretariat user was compromised and that someone then tried to access the municipality’s bank account, according to Diario Panorama. In that same account, Government Secretary Carla Ibarra detected the irregularity while reviewing activity on the official account.

The commissioner posted a video on social media to reassure residents and said the unauthorized access did not lead to an actual transfer. El Liberal, in another report on the same case, said the complaint describes a fraudulent transfer of $15,000,000 to a private individual’s account.

What is the Justice Department investigating?

Prosecutor Jésica Lucas ordered measures to determine how the unauthorized access happened and to identify who was behind the scheme, according to Diario Panorama. The complaint was handed over to the Justice Department and the Economic Crimes Division, which is handling the case.

El Liberal reported that the matter is under investigation by the Economic Crimes Division as part of the municipality’s complaint. Taken together, the two reports describe a case that still has one key disagreement, whether the $15 million transfer was only attempted, as Tenaglia said, or actually completed, as the complaint states.

What remains unclear?

The point not yet aligned across the sources is whether the $15 million transfer was executed. Tenaglia said it was not completed, while El Liberal’s account says a fraudulent transfer did occur from the official account of the Garza Municipal Commission.

Beyond that difference, both reports agree that there was unauthorized access to credentials linked to the municipality and that the case is now in the hands of the Justice Department and the Economic Crimes Division.