This morning the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Martín Menem, published an extensive tweet that began with a declaration of mourning and ended with a request for calm. “The death of Daniel Osorio Peñaloza is news that hits me deeply,” he wrote. “Dani was my friend, my co-worker and the general manager of a company that we built and developed together.” The publication was at the same time a tribute and a defensive maneuver: Menem knew that his name was already circulating in the media and social networks intertwined with that of the deceased, and that the company that united them was burdened with a delicate political context that death once again put at the center of the scene.
Daniel Antonio Osorio Peñaloza, 46 years old and born in Venezuela, was found dead on Sunday in his apartment in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Almagro, where he lived alone. The man, an accountant and director of the dietary supplements firm GenTech Argentina SA, had not responded to calls or messages for several days, which generated concern among those around him. According to the data that emerged, it was Saturday the last time that someone had contact with him. The body was found half-naked in his bed, on the eighth floor of Díaz Vélez Street. It was the company’s Finance Manager—who had keys to the apartment—who, upon arriving, found him dead. That man called the police, SAME and Menem to tell them what happened.
The first police report indicated that the body showed no visible signs of violence. The case was left in the hands of the National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office No. 22, headed by Eduardo Cubría (son of Judge María Servini), who classified the file as “doubtful death”, a figure used when there are aspects of the death that require clarification through the judicial investigation. Investigation sources suggest that death could have occurred in the days prior to the discovery, and experts are analyzing whether the deceased suffered pulmonary edema. The results of the autopsy had not been released at the time of going to press.
Among the hypotheses that researchers are using—without any being confirmed—is the modality known as “black widows”, a criminal modality in which women drug their victims after casual encounters and then steal their belongings and money. The modus operandi follows a recurring pattern: the woman seduces the man, manages to enter his home and supplies him with some sedative substance—in many cases ketamine, clonazepam or other anxiolytics obtained on the black market—so that he loses consciousness.
In the most serious cases, overdose of these substances can lead to death. The discovery of the semi-naked body in bed, without external signs of violence and with several days of not responding to communications, is consistent with this pattern, according to sources close to the cause. But this is, for now, only one line of investigation among several that Justice is evaluating.
In his tweet, Menem explained how he found out and what he did. “I became aware of what happened through a telephone call in which I was informed that Daniel had been found without vital signs. I immediately went to the place and, at the time of my arrival, the SAME and members of the City Police were already intervening, who later confirmed the unfortunate news.” And he added: “I remained there while the authorities and intervening professionals acted, deeply shocked by what had happened to my friend. My presence responded exclusively to the logical concern generated by such painful news.”
Osorio Peñaloza was listed as GenTech’s alternate director since 2020 according to official records. The company, founded by Menem in 1998, is dedicated to the production and marketing of nutritional supplements aimed at sports and high performance. Among its clients is the Argentine Football Association, to whom it provides supplements for the national team. But it is another commercial link that surrounds the company with a halo of judicial suspicion that is now reactivated with the death of its manager.
GenTech is listed as a supplier to the National Disability Agency. The link is indirect but significant: according to a complaint filed with Justice, ANDIS would have purchased medicinal products from the Suizo Argentina drugstore for almost 27 billion pesos without the corresponding public bidding, and that same drugstore would market GenTech products. The case took on another dimension when audio recordings of the then head of ANDIS, Diego Spagnuolo—prosecuted in that case—were revealed, in which he supposedly described a return scheme between different government actors. In courts it is said that GenTech would appear mentioned in some of those audios. These are versions that circulate in the judicial environment but, until now, have not been publicly confirmed.
Menem went out to deactivate those connections from the first moment the scandal broke out. He admitted that he knows Jonathan Kovalivker, president of Suizo Argentina, but argued that this relationship originates exclusively in his private activity. “I know the entire drugstore market because I have been manufacturing dietary supplements since 2004. My business, GenTech, continues to sell to pharmacies, gyms and surely many drugstores. I did not recommend Suizo Argentina, I do not get involved with the State,” he said.
In that context came Sunday’s tweet. Menem chose the tone of genuine mourning but also that of someone who knows that every word can have judicial and political consequences. “Today there is a judicial investigation underway to determine what happened,” he wrote. “Out of respect for Daniel, his family and all his loved ones, I ask the media, journalists and social media users to avoid speculation and unsupported versions. It is time to allow Justice to work with the seriousness that the case requires and wait for the facts to be clarified.” Justice investigates. The hypotheses multiply. And the questions, for now, have no answers.
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by RN
