In just two months of government, the new authorities of the Anti-Corruption Office (OA) have already filed
35 complaints
for possible non-compliance or inconsistencies in the sworn declarations of assets of public officials and also of former officials who ended their administration on December 10, and they had the obligation to present their papers corresponding to the 2023 period.
Some of the complaints point to their own officials, although
their names have not yet been revealed
.
With people, teams and organizations that are still settling and finding a place in front of the State command board, the OA prefers to wait for those listed to respond or resolve pending situations before releasing their names.
Likewise, they clarified that "there are no known names or front-line officials."
Still,
everything remains at the administrative level
: although the Law still grants the agency the power to sue in court, the Ministry of Justice publicly said that they will no longer do so in cases of corruption: it will only do so "when it is 'extremely necessary.'” However, they reject that this decision is part of "a plan of impunity."
The Anti-Corruption Office
played a key role
in many corruption cases such as
Money Route K
, where Lázaro Báez - Cristina Kirchner's former business partner - ended up sentenced to ten years in prison for having laundered 55 million dollars.
But between 2019 and 2023, the organization withdrew from the files in which he was complaining.
Now, Javier Milei's administration is at a crossroads as to which path to follow.
Before taking office, Justice Minister Mariano Cúneo Libarona had said that the OA was going to sue again, as was the Financial Information Unit (UIF).
But some time later he retracted that criterion and maintained that this government
“will not persecute officials”
and accused Macri of using the OA and the UIF for such purposes.
Currently, the organizations
have not lost their legal power to take on a complaint
, but as official sources told
Clarín
, “it will not be a priority criterion as the organization's policy.”
To date there are more than 300 preliminary investigations, which began during the administration of Mauricio Macri as president of the Nation.
Most of them remained open during the government of Alberto Fernández with the direction of the organization, Félix Crous, who as the main action
withdrew from all the corruption cases in which he was complaining.
The majority were against former Kirchnerist officials and the former vice president herself, Cristina Kirchner.
At this stage, its current director,
Javier Melik,
maintains that the body that depends on the Ministry of Justice has the power to file a complaint and as long as the law does not say otherwise, that power is valid.
“This is by law and is the current situation.
If the decision of Congress is that, we will follow that order.
If not, we will abide by what is finally resolved.
If the power is maintained, we will sue those who we consider have harmed the interests of the State,” he said in an interview with
Clarín
.
In the organization that must put a magnifying glass on the asset declarations of officials - such as those who left the position and must present the documentation corresponding to the last fiscal period (which closed in December 2023) - there are 301 preliminary investigations open.
They may be due to acts of corruption or failure to comply with sworn statements.
"Since the new authorities took office until today,
35 complaints were made to the Justice Department
either for non-compliance with sworn statements or for possible acts of corruption," official sources explained.
The repeated fact is non-compliance: “in all cases they are being investigated one by one to move forward, but everything is investigated.
What is in process is followed to advance to the corresponding result and
what is new is investigated objectively as well.
Without distinction of ideology
.”
At this point they reiterated something:
“There is no impunity or privileges for anyone.”
That message is not accidental.
Some sectors of the opposition to La Libertad Avanza talk about an alleged pact of impunity to not investigate corruption,
the government seeks to give some signals
that within the Judiciary are not “neither clear nor legally sustainable,” as they pointed out in Commodore Py.
The last initiative of the ruling party, delivered to the Attorney General of the Nation, Eduardo Casal, was
the creation of a new anti-corruption attorney general's office.
When
Clarín
asked Casal about this initiative, its viability and if it was indeed necessary, he responded: “It is good to have proposals, perhaps other perspectives, but currently the investigations and accusations in acts of corruption are carried out by all the prosecutors of the federal jurisdiction throughout the country, which have the assistance of two specialized attorney offices.
In addition, there are support directorates in matters of economic crime and assistance in criminal investigations.
Whenever prosecutors have required support in complex cases, as these types tend to be, they have been provided by the Attorney General's Office.
Finally, he added something more on the subject, “
the system is functioning according to the law
and the way the Public Ministry is organized.
It would be necessary to analyze if what is proposed serves to improve, if it can be inserted and does not mean an obstruction. Define the competence of that prosecutor's office, who heads it, how it is designated, the budget.
It is complex.”
This initiative coexists with the role of the OA, which looks more at the officials, their asset declarations and possible inconsistencies in them that could lead to the formalization of a criminal complaint.
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The sworn statements of Javier Milei and his sister Karina: he has the same assets as in 2022 and she does not reach 2 million pesos