Lucia Salinas
03/05/2020 - 14:41
- Clarín.com
- Politics
A skill requested by the vice president and her former business partner, Lázaro Báez, will run the time limits for the start of the oral trial for money laundering. The measure was required before the Federal Oral Court 5 (TOF 5) which is responsible for the two cases in which the family businesses of the Kirchners, Los Sauces (real estate) and Hotesur (owner of the Alto Calafate hotel) were investigated. In the case of the hotel firm, Cristina Kirchner requested an expert to analyze all the contracts concluded with the entrepreneur K. The TOF took place and according to judicial sources, with an average period of six months for its completion, the trial would not be initiated during 2020.
The hotel business was a "leverage of Kirchner assets," Víctor Manzanares, former family accountant , said in his confession. The four hotels that the former presidential marriage acquired while they were in charge of the Casa Rosada, were investigated in relation to the contracts concluded with Lázaro Báez, who in turn - according to justice - was erected as the "main contractor of work public of Santa Cruz ".
Hotesur, to the Kirchner hotel firm accused of money laundering.
That circuit by which they were washed at least $ 80 million, supports the prosecution against the vice president, her children Máximo and Florencia Kirchner, Báez and other defendants, is the one who came to oral trial. Everything was done through the hotel business.
The hypothesis that prosecutors Gerardo Pollicita and Ignacio Mahiques investigated during the investigation is that the former presidents and their children received money from Báez “through the hotel business under a certain legitimacy appearance”, which assured them that they could declare those funds before the Anti-Corruption Office and before the Treasury "hiding its true origin" allegedly illicit. In addition to the Kirchner family and the businessman, Romina Mercado (daughter of Alicia Kirchner) and Osvaldo Sanfelice, among other defendants, will also be tried.
S and accuses the former President and her children Máximo and Florencia Kirchner of being part of a "recycling process that, with the illicit funds of the public works and through the firm Valle Miter de Báez, was developed between 2008 and 2013" .
All those businesses focused on different hires, are the ones that Cristina Kirchner asked to assess. Along the same lines, the defense of Lázaro Báez asked the Court that, before setting the date for the start of the trial, a trial be conducted to analyze in detail all the contracts concluded between Hotesur and Valle Miter (his company responsible for manage hotels), Austral Construcciones and other conglomerate firms.
Lázaro Báez prosecuted with Cristina Kirchner for money laundering.
TOF 5 as confirmed by Clarín, led to the expertise that will require at least six months. "Until the test is completed, the trial cannot be initiated," they explained. This will delay the start of the hearings and in Comodoro Py they no longer see that the money laundering lawsuit against the vice president and her children will begin during this year. The expertise will be of an accounting nature and in principle will be carried out by the specialists of the Court.
This trial will be carried out together with the Los Sauces case, where a expertise was also requested on the contracts between Báez and the former President (Lázaro and Cristóbal López accounted for 86% of the real estate billing). Between 2009 and 2015, more than $ 30 million would have been handled irregularly, for justice. This expertise is not over yet.
Contracts under suspicion
In the case of Hotesur, the commercial operations to be assessed were analyzed during the investigation, together with various real estate arrangements. For example, Justice noted that for the Kirchner family to acquire hotels between 2005 and 2009, there were more than 15 buying and selling of land and property between Baez and the former presidents. This liquidity allowed them - with the participation of Máximo Kirchner - to buy the Las Dunas hotel for 700,000 dollars and Alto Calafate, for 4,900,000 dollars.
As a next step, Valle Miter, from Báez, was created in order to manage the hotels, "to receive that money and apply it to the hotel business, and thus allow the illicit gain to be distanced from its true origin."
The Las Dunas hotel in El Calafate. Photo: OPI Santa Cruz / Francisco Muñóz
As this firm did not have the economic capacity to pay Hotesur's rent, Austral Construcciones was injecting money - the main contractor for public road works. The company that managed the Kirchner hotels registered revenues from the construction company between 2007 and 2015 for almost 71 million pesos.
Everything ended with the entry of funds to equity K. Between 2009 and July 2013, Báez guaranteed the Kirchners 27,592,110 pesos for rentals to Hotesur SA. The figure is important, but more the proportion that it saves in the total income of the family business. 54% of Alto Calafate's income came from the Austral Group.
Rooms that were not used
On the other hand, the Austral Group, through seven of its companies, hired rooms at the end of 2011 that it never used. Loscalzos and Del Curto and Kank & Costilla, construction companies of Báez, concluded agreements to hire rooms at the Alto Calafate hotel with the same argument: company personnel were “developing works in the area”.
National Roads reported that all the works detailed in the justification of the contracts for more than 1.3 million pesos, were more than 321 kilometers from the Cristina Kirchner hotel. This would have meant - just going back and forth - more than seven hours of travel. "It is another sign that rents were only one screen," said prosecutor Pollicita.
Loscalzos and Del Curto rented 16 nights in double rooms per month between July 2010 and December 2013, with half board. The price they paid was 602,217 pesos. The tenders awarded at that time, and used by the entrepreneur K as an argument, were the construction of sewers in the locations of the National Route 40 section Turbio Viejo - Puente Blanco, about 381.2 kilometers from the Alto Calafate hotel; and the construction of pre-molded guardians at the Rio Turbio airfield: the distance is 320 kilometers.
In the case of KyC with the same argument, he signed an agreement for 20 nights in double rooms, with half board, per month. The total amount paid was 786,227 pesos. The works he was in charge at that time, was the paving of streets in Piedra Buena 427 kilometers from El Calafate, and the resurfacing in different sections of National Route 3 (section Gran Bajo San Julián Los Alamos station) that is located 391 kilometers. A fact: the works awarded to the two firms, were not completed and were charged according to the Justice with surcharges of 65%.
In addition to the contracts concluded with the construction companies, La Estación SA and Don Francisco, they signed an agreement to use four double rooms for each day of reservation, “and / or use of the hotel lounge”, rented “for technical or promotional product meetings related to the activity ”of companies: they sell fuel. The contract was for 301,108 pesos.