The Federal Criminal Oral Court No. 2
rejected
the proposal to extinguish the criminal action for comprehensive reparation formulated by the defense of Leonardo Luis Barone, legal representative of the company Global Jet Aviation SA, which would have defrauded the National Aviation Administration Civil (ANAC)
in more than 5 million pesos at the value of 2013
, by using false surety insurance policies that it presented in the tender award file.
In this way, judges Néstor Costabel, Jorge Gorini and Rodrigo Giménez Uriburu resolved in line with the position of prosecutor Diego Luciani, while making the records and documentation of the file available to the Public Ministry so that
they can file complaints against the former head of the ANAC, Alejandro Agustín Granados -son of the mayor of Ezeiza and leader K Alejandro Granados-,
and other public officials and individuals involved in the maneuver that would have harmed the Public Administration.
Within the framework of the National Program for the Promotion of Argentine Civil Aviation, on July 1, 2013, the ANAC administrator authorized the call for public bidding for
an estimated sum of $7,454,560, for the acquisition of ten aircraft for basic and sports instruction, which was awarded to Global Jet Aviation SA
The company, which had been established a few days before the call for bids and lacked clients, balance sheet and commercial history in the field, would supply airplanes manufactured by Proyecto Petrel, a firm that was created to carry out an initiative of the Technological Institute of Buenos Aires ( ITBA), to design, develop, build and certify a light aircraft for flight schools, flying clubs and sports aviation. At that time, Project Petrel only had one prototype aircraft built.
Appropriately, prosecutor Luciani understood that “it would be a tender clearly directed to a particular bidder”, which would demonstrate
“the illegality of the call and the consequent responsibility of public officials (especially Granados) and the individuals who participated. ”.
In this sense, he added that "not only was the offeror a company that had just started its activity, but also the product that it offered to sell to the State
was a new product, which had not yet been manufactured or introduced into the market
."
Thus, he highlighted that “it is clear that this was a simulated tender. We could say that, more than a tender, there was financing, by the ANAC, for the construction of a new type of aircraft" and that "it is clear that it was a simulated tender to be able to hire the company recipient of the financing." ”. By virtue of this, the representative of the Public Prosecutor's Office concluded “that there are elements that
warrant a broad investigation of the actions of public officials and individuals – not brought to trial – who intervened in the bidding process
.”
In this context, it required the extraction of testimonies to deepen the investigation in relation to other people involved in the maneuver that damaged the public treasury.
On the other hand, Barone's defense had requested the extinction of the criminal action regarding his assistant, by application of the conciliation institute, given that the damage caused had been paid.
However, prosecutor Luciani opposed it because he considered that “in all those irregularities and illegalities noticed and analyzed, there is the possible involvement of public officials in the bidding process who, in some way, would have made possible the illegal awarding of the contract under study to the joint stock company Global Jet Aviation.”
Furthermore, he understood that the necessary requirements contemplated in the regulations of article 34 of the Federal Criminal Procedure Code (CPPF) based on article 59, paragraph 6 of the National Penal Code were not configured either. This, in line with the instruction of the Attorney General of the Nation - given through Resolution PGN No. 92/2023 - on the intervention of the representatives of the Public Prosecutor's Office of the Nation in conciliatory agreements.
On the other hand, given that on July 3, 2014, the Oral Economic Criminal Court No. 3 granted Barone the suspension of the trial process, prosecutor Luciani considered - also in line with the instructions of the Attorney General - that he did not The institute of conciliation that he requested could be granted, given that "when the accused is under conditions of suspension of a trial process, the celebration of a conciliation agreement directly attacks the purpose of that process, since it would allow the commission of a new crime or several successive crimes that are reconciled, does not have any consequences for the accused."
Based on all this, the prosecution considered that it was appropriate to reject the proposal of Barone's defense, while requesting the extraction of testimonies to deepen the investigation in relation to other people involved in the maneuver that damaged the public treasury.
However, Barone's defense once again insisted on the separation of his assistant, since he had fully repaired the damage caused to the ANAC, which would imply the prescription of the action, under the terms of article 59, paragraph 6 of the Penal Code. .
Now, judges Costabel, Jorge Gorini and Giménez Uriburu agreed with the prosecution in rejecting the defense request. In this sense, they considered that there were “reasons that discourage the application of the reparation institute to resolve this case.”
Regarding the request for the extraction of testimonies made by the prosecution, the TOF made the records and documentation of the file available to them so that they could make possible complaints against Granados, and other public officials and individuals involved in the maneuver. The prosecutor's office announced that they will file a pertinent complaint regarding these events.