Tucumán transfers gambling proceeds to provincial health ministry

The Caja Popular de Ahorros de Tucumán has transferred funds to the provincial Ministry of Public Health under Law 5115, which allocates a share of gambling revenue to the provincial health system and social assistance programmes. The deposit was formalised at a working meeting led by health minister Luis Medina Ruiz and the Caja Popular's interventor, Guillermo Norry. The amount of the new transfer was not officially disclosed.

The transfer falls under articles 21 and 21 bis of Law 5115, which require part of the resources generated by gambling to go to the public health system. Medina Ruiz said the funds would strengthen the provincial health system, improve the quality of services and their response capacity, and provide more human resources and technology. Norry said the Caja Popular was meeting a formal obligation to make the contribution that by law belongs to the ministry.

The formalisation follows administrative and judicial investigations. The Tribunal de Cuentas de Tucumán found alleged shortfalls in the remittance of these funds between 2020 and 2023, when the entity was led by José Díaz. According to the audits, the failure to transfer generated a debt of more than ARS3,381m (US$2.1m). The matter led to an administrative liability case against the previous intervention and later to a criminal complaint before the provincial courts.

In June the provincial government increased the Siprosa budget by ARS200m (US$120,000), financed with resources from the Caja Popular de Ahorros. The source gives no further detail on the status of the administrative case or the criminal complaint.