Mauro Aguilar
08/15/2020 - 11:28
- Clarín.com
- Police
As part of the case that ended with two Rosario prosecutors arrested, on Friday he was charged with integrating an illicit association, managing and organizing a system for capturing clandestine games of chance, a man known in the Santa Fe city of Rafaela as "The King" of illegal gambling.
According to the investigation, David Perona, 44 , has close ties with businessman Leonardo Peiti (46) , the man who caused a judicial earthquake in Rosario by denouncing that he paid bribes to two prosecutors to protect him in court cases.
The new defendant was identified as part of an organization dedicated to illegal gambling and extortion against merchants, businessmen and union leaders.
As part of the actions carried out by that group on January 11, they attacked the City Center casino , a mega-enterprise located in the southern area of Rosario, which they shot to intimidate and obtain money in exchange.
The action ended with the death of Enrique Encino, a 64-year-old gambler who was in the smoking sector and was shot in the head.
This group had a direct relationship with Ariel “Guille” Cantero, leader of the Los Monos gang, who issued orders from prison and who was summoned to frighten the victims of extortion.
The investigation of the Organized Crime and Complex Crimes Agency had as its starting point these extortionary maneuvers, deepened with the death of the gambler in the casino and ended up revealing how the members of the organization were dedicated to running the clandestine gambling business.
Almost fortunately, after rescuing a message from a nearly destroyed phone that a person found on the street, it was noticed that the gang had support within the Public Prosecutor's Office (MPA).
Thus it was determined that the head of the Rosario prosecutors, Patricio Serjal, the Flagrancia prosecutor Gustavo Ponce Asahad and the employee Nelson Ugolini formed a group to which Peiti, a businessman linked to legal gambling and clandestine gambling, paid between 4 and 5 thousand dollars a month. In return, they would provide him with sensitive information and hinder the progress in legal cases in which he was involved.
Perona was now accused in Rosario of integrating with Peiti, Maximiliano “Cachete” Díaz - a man close to Cantero and designated as the organizer of the band - and the retired commissioner Alejandro Torrisi of a network that administered illegal gambling houses.
The group had rooms in different cities of Santa Fe. Perona acted as a lender of money obtained illicitly. In addition, he managed at least one clandestine gambling hall, in Villa Gobernador Gálvez, and a place that functioned as a kiosk in Rafaela where gambling was done through web pages.
Perona was arrested in Rafaela on Friday, August 7. They kidnapped him in the raid one million pesos, 15 thousand dollars, car costs and jewelry. Key to reaching this man was the material seized from Peiti. There the commercial relationship that existed between the two was established, through numerous contacts and operations.
Rosary beads. Correspondent.
GL
