Investigation · Flagged companies
ITHG: five records in the data, twenty million dollars in reality
A firm created in 2020 as a "maritime supplier" came to concentrate 96% of ASSE's ambulance transfers, all by direct purchase. The State-procurement data shows just five contracts for about 33 million pesos. The ASSE audit and the Tribunal de Cuentas document over two billion. The gap is the part of spending that transparency does not see.
The context
From maritime supplier to owner of the ambulances
ITHG was incorporated in January 2020 with a "maritime provision" purpose. With no prior health experience and no Health Ministry authorization, and only widening its purpose in 2022, it came to concentrate 96.47% of ASSE's SAME 105 emergency-and-transfer spending, all via direct purchases without tender or price comparison.
ASSE's internal audit found above-market prices, payments for cancelled trips and deviations of up to 700% over the guideline. The most-cited case: about US$800k paid in 2024 to keep on standby an ambulance that, per the investigation, did "one trip every two days". Inconsistent addresses also turned up: a greengrocer in Ciudad Vieja, a shoe distributor in Cerrito de la Victoria.
The finding
What the data sees vs. what was spent
This is the heart of the investigation. We looked ITHG up in the site's State-procurement data: it appears with five records for about 33 million pesos. But ASSE's own audit speaks of ~US$20 million in three years, and the Tribunal de Cuentas observed 100% of the period's transfer spending —over 2,000 million pesos. The bulk was paid by direct purchase and left almost no open trace.
The finding
The data records less than 2% of what the audit documents. It is not a data error: it is the nature of emergency direct-purchase, which can be settled outside the circuit that leaves a public record. Where the most money moved, transparency is thinnest.
The evidence
The five records that were logged
ITHG's five contracts that appear in State procurement, verified in the data and linked to their record on the site. It is the little the open data shows of a far larger relationship.
| Year | Buyer | Item | Amount | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | ASSE (central) | Servicio de equipo técnico + ambulancia común y especializada (11 renglones) | $ 21,3 M | View contract → |
| 2023 | Atención de Urgencia, Emergencia Prehospitalaria y Traslado | Equipo técnico de traslado + ambulancia + transporte con chofer | $ 8,2 M | View contract → |
| 2023 | Atención de Urgencia, Emergencia Prehospitalaria y Traslado | Arrendamiento de ambulancia | $ 2,9 M | View contract → |
| 2025 | Centro de Rehabilitación Médico Ocupacional y Sicosocial | Arrendamiento de ambulancia | $ 125.000 | View contract → |
| 2025 | Centro de Rehabilitación Médico Ocupacional y Sicosocial | Arrendamiento de ambulancia | $ 125.000 | View contract → |
The mirror
Solidar (JD&A): the "competitor" at the same address
A second firm, Solidar (registered as JD&A S.A.S.), showed up in ASSE's ambulance tenders as an independent competitor. The Tribunal de Cuentas observed the framework for "signs of prohibited practices" against competition: Solidar shares ITHG's address, equipment and mutual contracts, and bid in identical terms. In Parliament, SAME 105 officials could not explain which of the two firms they were linked to.
In the data, Solidar/JD&A appears with 49 contracts. The framework was suspended and never took effect; Solidar operated mainly as ITHG's subcontractor.
The status
Where the case stands
100% of the contracting was observed by the Tribunal de Cuentas for breaching the TOCAF, and the ambulance framework was referred to the antitrust body. In April 2026, ASSE's current board filed a criminal complaint against former president Leonardo Cipriani and his board.
The other side: the firm is not formally charged. The criminal case targets the former ASSE officials who resolved the direct purchases. The flag on ITHG is about contracting —concentration, prices, method— and the inconsistencies the audit describes, not a conviction.
Sources
Verified sources
- la diaria — ASSE pagó US$ 20 millones a ITHG por traslados en tres años (compras directas, observadas por el TCR)
- El Observador — Se pagaron US$ 800 mil por una ambulancia que hizo un traslado cada dos días
- El Observador — Auditoría detectó precios por encima del mercado y desvíos de 700%
- Búsqueda — El Tribunal de Cuentas observó el convenio marco de ambulancias y lo envió a Defensa de la Competencia
- La Red 21 — Denuncia penal de ASSE contra la ex gestión Cipriani
- M24 — Solidar, la empresa con el domicilio de ITHG
Tell it where you can be protected
We publish what is in the open data. What isn't — the file, the message, what was said in the meeting — goes to Uruguay Leaks, the anonymous inbox run by la diaria, PODER and DATA Uruguay. The message is written for you: copy it, add what you know and paste it into their form.
Do not send it from your work computer or work email. Uruguay Leaks protects the submission, not the machine you send it from.
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How to read this investigation
The five contracts and their amounts come from the site's State-procurement data (OCDS), verified one by one and linked to their record on the site. The larger figures —the ~US$20 M, the +$2,000 M observed, the 96.47%, the US$800k ambulance— come from ASSE's audit, the Tribunal de Cuentas and the cited press, not from the data.
ITHG is not charged. It is named as a State supplier and as the subject of a public audit and complaint. An observed contract or a direct purchase is not, on its own, proof of a crime. Anyone named may add their response.