"All the investigations are ongoing but the system is going to be cut off,"
acknowledged a qualified
Casa Rosada source when referring to
the alleged "black box" of politics that was uncovered by the ejected head of Anses, Osvaldo Giordano, and which was financed with insurance that the State contracted to grant loans to retirees during the previous government.
The apparent
"collection" maneuvers that the Córdoba leader made visible through an internal audit generated a mass of $20 billion , as
Clarín
revealed exclusively
this Sunday.
That amount was
what Anses paid to an entity of Banco Nación Seguros
to insure the lives of retirees and pensioners to whom they gave the loans in operations in which private firms also participated, with succulent commissions, as "coinsurance."
This requirement, that of putting together a policy in favor of the beneficiaries, was implemented in 2021 under the management of
Alberto Fernández
since in the previous ten years the loans
had been granted without that modality.
The point is that this Sunday there was some caution in the ruling party about the results of an audit that, they say, began a month and a half ago.
Although in
Anses
they highlighted that the contracts with the insurers were cancelled, in Casa Rosada they were more prudent in stating that due to bureaucratic issues -
"policy expirations
" - there was still time left to finish deregistering them.
They conceded, however, that
"the
system as designed is going to be cut."
Changes at the top of the body
Last week, lawyer
Mariano de los Heros,
a former AFJP manager with a previous stint in the State, took over as the new head of an organization that, on paper, reports to the Ministry of Human Capital.
He replaced
Giordano,
who had been displaced after the reset of political alliances carried out by
Javier Milei
due to the failure of the
Omnibus Law in Congress.
The truth is that the new leadership excused itself during the "transition" times so as not to reveal whether, through the evidence collected, the administrative actions were going to be submitted to the Anti-Corruption Office so that possible irregularities could be investigated.
The entity stated that they
"probably" will make some information about it official this week
.
The OA is led by
Alejandro Melik
and, despite the official dalliances, he will begin to be a plaintiff in cases of fraud against the State.
"
We are also with the chainsaw in Anses and something will come out
," explained, in turn, a close collaborator of the President when making a metaphorical reference to a possible official investigation against the alleged perpetrators of the maneuvers.
Other sources from the social security organization, however, tried to downplay the relevance of the issue, arguing that
the decision not to continue with the contracts to ensure the lives of retirees "was administrative and management" based on an "analysis of the conditions "
which, apparently, were unfavorable for the State in relation to their "premiums and amounts."
The thing is that these agreements contemplated that if the costs exceed the companies' income, the premiums “will be adjusted until the relationship is balanced,” thus guaranteeing that private insurers will not lose money.
The existing doubts refer to whether, beyond the technical issue, there will be any reference to the apparent existence of a "political fund" with resources generated by a credit program
intended for older adults that, in the midst of the 2023 electoral campaign, charged a new impulse.
The then Minister of Economy,
Sergio Massa,
expanded these loans
within the framework of a revamped "platita plan"
that would give volume to his presidential candidacy: they had amounts of up to $600,000 at an annual rate of 29%, a third of what the market and in 24, 36 or 48 installments.
They were intended for all types of beneficiaries, even for holders of non-contributory pensions, with the aim of capturing votes for UP
with the excuse of promoting consumption
.