A document that authorizes the unification of ART coverage in the former Ministry of Agriculture revealed the influence of one of the best-known brokers that operated with official insurance, and who also
contributed to the campaign
that led Alberto Fernández to the pink House.
This is
Oscar Castello Mercuri
, one of the best-known producers who mediate State insurance and who
in 2019 was the largest private contributor to Fernández's presidential campaign
.
A deposit from Castello Mercuri's insurance company appears in the 2019 campaign contribution records.
On September 26, 2019,
he made a payment of 1,000,000 pesos, at values at that time, for the national general elections.
Oscar Castello Mercuri's contributions to Alberto Fernández's campaign.
But, as this newspaper was able to find out from official sources, until 2022 he was an agent in
Corredores Viales
- which manages the concession of national routes and today depends on the Chief of Staff - but still maintains links with other public organizations and Buenos Aires municipalities.
He has also provided coverage to the automobile fleet of the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires.
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The former president defended himself against the accusations of corruption and said that he has "the peace of mind" of not having committed "any improper act."
But
a document dated November 15, 2021
, to which this newspaper had access, unifies the coverage of Provincia ART with the different areas of influence of the Agriculture portfolio, highlighting the influence of the aforementioned broker.
"Together with
Héctor Martínez Sosa
(the husband of A. Fernández's secretary) and a few others, they are the producers who have the most accounts in the State," confides a source from the sector consulted.
Signed by the then minister
Julián Domínguez
(Agriculture), it designates
Castello Mercuri as representative of this ministry" and of the organizations
that
depend on it -National Institute of Seeds, Institute of Viticulture, INTA or SENASA, for example-
effect the contracts made previously
in any of the contracts in force, to be subscribed or to be renewed that have to do with the intermediation in matters of work risks".
In dialogue with this newspaper, Dominguez argued that "in 2020 there was an accident involving a SENASA worker and it was decided to change (the ART) and this producer was the best valued"
by the insurer, while indicating that the contract amounts "are those governed by law."
That is, the text somehow whitewashes the participation of these agents in contracts between two public entities: the labor risk insurer of Banco Provincia and a ministry that, in 2022 with the arrival of
Sergio Massa
to the Economy, became the secretary. .
Some versions report that from that moment
on the producer in question was losing influence at the hands of "Paris Broker"
, another well-known insurer with good ties to the former Unión por la Patria candidate.
In any case, the weight of
Castello Mercuri
in the ministry and the organizations under its jurisdiction was notable for several years.
Sector sources assure that commissions close to $30 million per month were paid for these contracts and that this sum came from the coffers of ART itself.
The document in question is addressed to
Fernando Zack,
who is a leader linked to Governor Axel Kicillof in that firm of the BAPRO group.
This entity, as could be found out, has a close relationship with several of the producers who operate with the different organizations and municipalities and whose names were disclosed in this case.
business network with official insurance, revealed by Clarín, and which Justice is investigating today in two files.
In the Buenos Aires state firm they detailed that "it is the client who designates the broker who participates in the different contracts."