Copyright batimes
The landmark “Cuadernos de las Coimas” corruption case – one of Argentina’s biggest-ever graft scandals – will finally go to trial this week, with former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner among 87 defendants in the dock, accused of taking part in a vast bribery and corruption scheme involving kickbacks and state contracts. Federal prosecutor Fabiana León, who will lead the state’s case from Thursday, November 6, described the case this week as “the longest corruption investigation in Argentine judicial history,” adding that it was “comparable to very few worldwide.” The trial before Federal Oral Court No. 7 brings together some of the most powerful figures from Argentina’s political and business elite. Those facing charges include ex-president Fernández de Kirchner, former Federal Planning minister Julio De Vido, his former deputy José López – caught in 2016 throwing bags of cash over a convent wall – and former officials Ricardo Jaime, Juan Pablo Schiavi and Roberto Baratta. The case began in 2018 when prosecutors obtained a series of handwritten notebooks by Oscar Centeno, a chauffeur who detailed alleged cash deliveries from businessmen to government offices during the Kirchner administrations. Centeno is said to have written eight notebooks, keeping travel logs of visits to businesspeople who had dealings with the government. Fearful about their safekeeping, he entrusted them to a friend, an ex-policeman called Jorge Bacigalupo, who eventually delivered them to a La Nación journalist. The driver, now an indicted collaborator, is expected to testify in the case. Fernández de Kirchner denies the charges, claiming they are part of an organised plot of “judicial and political persecution” against her. After initial arrests, the case quickly expanded as several of the accused struck whistleblower deals to testify in exchange for reduced sentences. According to León’s office, the trial covers 540 instances of alleged bribery and centres on a “criminal organisation” that operated within the Executive branch collecting illicit payments from construction, energy and transport companies in return for state contracts. Among the business leaders charged are Ángelo Calcaterra (cousin of former president Mauricio Macri), Aldo Roggio, Carlos Wagner, Gerardo Ferreyra, Héctor Sánchez Caballero, Armando Loson, Néstor Otero, Alberto Taselli and Enrique Pescarmona. Prosecutors say the investigation has included property seizures, company interventions and profit bans since 2018, claiming that “not a single cent affected by these events has been lost or left unattended.” The defendants face charges ranging from criminal conspiracy to bribery and cover-up, with potential prison sentences of up to 10 years. Hearings, set to begin virtually, will be conducted by judges Germán Castelli, Enrique Méndez Signori and Fernando Canero.
