K money trail
The K money trail (Spanish: La ruta del dinero K, "K" stands for "Kirchnerism") is a 2013 political scandal in Argentina. It began with an investigation of the TV programm Periodismo para todos, led by journalist Jorge Lanata, who described a case of embezzlement involving the former president Néstor Kirchner, the current president Cristina de Kirchner and the businessman Lázaro Báez, who worked for them. According to the investigation, Báez channeled money destined to public infrastructure to tax havens. The scandal led to a judiciary investigation.
Development
Television
Periodismo para todos began its 2013 season on April 14. Jorge Lanata pointed that, according to his annual oath to the AFIP, Néstor Kirchner and his wife Cristina de Kirchner had a private wealth of US$ 1.4 million in 2003, when Néstor Kirchner became president of Argentina. When he died in 2010, their private wealth was US$ 14.1 million. Lanata said that, besides that, there was a large amount of undeclared money as well. The first programme included interviews with Leonardo Fariña and Federico Elaskar, who detailed the methodology used by Lázaro Báez to send 55 millions of Euros to tax havens. Lázaro Báez was a businessman from the Santa Cruz Province, and a close friend of Néstor Kirchner. Leonardo Fariña works for Báez, and Federico Elascar led SGI, a financial firm that was used for money laundering.[1] Elaskar pointed the existence of more than 50 financial firms used for similar transactions. Fabián Rossi, husband of the actress Iliana Calabró, was accused of managing the financial operations in Panama.[2]
Both Fariña and Elaskar denied the things they have said, after the program was aired. Fabián Rossi said that Fariña and Elaskar were delirious.[3] Lanata showed renewed evidences the following programs, that confirmed their initial declarations. Lanata aired an interview with Miriam Quiroga, secretary of Néstor Kirchner.[1] Quiroga described people moving full bags of money from the Casa Rosada and the Quinta de Olivos to El Calafate, the home town of Kirchner, using the Tango 01 presidential aircraft. Quiroga confirmed as well that Cristina Fernández de Kirchner was aware of those operations, and although she could not confirm the existence of a vault at the Kirchner's house, she had heard things that made her suspect that it was very likely.[4] The former prosecutor Andrés Vivanco pointed that Báez's wealth is actually the wealth of Néstor Kirchner, and mentioned two other vaults in Río Gallegos, one belonging to Cristina Kirchner, the other to Báez.[5]
On May 19 Lanata made further accusations of money laundering to Néstor Kirchner, his son Máximo Kirchner, Lázaro Báez and the sport agent Miguel Ángel Pires. This operation would be done through the brought of soccer players for Racing Club de Avellaneda, such as Rubén Ramírez, Pablo Lugüercio, Marcos Cáceres, Nicolás Cabrera, Leandro González and Martín Wagner.[6]
On August 18 Lanata pointed that, according to the official reports, Cristina Kirchner visited Seychelles on January 21 and 22, with no records of the presidential activities in those days. Seychelles was mentioned by Elaskar as a destiny of the money. A few months after the visit, Seychelles was removed from the official list of fiscal paradises. The program pointed as well that Néstor Kirchner created in Ireland a shell subsidiary of another corporation in Panama led by him.[7]
Judiciary
Several politicians opened judicial cases as soon as the first program was aired. Deputy Elisa Carrió filed a case with judge Julián Ercolini, who was already investigating Lázaro Báez for illicit association. Ercolini considered that it was not the same case and sent it for raffle; it was given to Kirchnerist judge Sebastián Casanello. The prosecutor Guillermo Marijuan began to investigate the case. The lawyer Alejandro Sánchez Kalbermatten filed a similar case after Carrio did so, but before the case was given to Casanello. Kalbermatten accused Lázaro Báez, his sons Martín Báez and Leandro Báez, Daniel Pérez Gadín and Fabián Rossi. The case was received by Canicoba Corral, and the prosecutor was Miguel Ángel Osorio. The lawyer Ricardo Monner Sans filed another case, also received by Casanello, and deputies Manuel Garrido and Graciela Ocaña made another one. As all the cases were about the same thing, the president of the Federal Chamber Martín Irurzun had to decide which judge would work with the case.[8]
Government reactions
Initially, the government made no comments about the controversy. Only the deputee Carlos Kunkel voiced an opinion: he said that he did not know Lázaro Báez, but that if he commited a crime he would have to go to prison. Still, he thought that the program did not provide enough evidence.[9]
As Leonardo Fariña was the husband of the TV personality Karina Jelinek, the government sought first to give coverage at the gossip TV shows in their controlled channels. It was thought that if the case was linked to a mere dispute of TV personalities, it would be discredited.[10] It was also expected that, if the scandal stayed focused in Leonardo Fariña, people would forget about the links with Néstor Kirchner.[11] This attempt did not work as expected: the extended coverage simply increased the public awareness about the controversy among the population that does not follow political TV programs. The details about the money being weighed instead of counted and the vaults at the homes of politicians helped to increase the public awareness, as regular corruption controversies are highly complex for the layman.[10]
The national deputy Andrés Larroque considered the scandal a veiled coup attempt by the media.[12] Writer Ricardo Forster minimized the significance of political corruption, and considered the interest of the press in it a threat to democracy.[13]
The government sought to reduce the audience of Periodismo para todos by rescheduling the soccer matches, so that the most important match of the week is aired at the same time.[14] The operation was unsuccessful, as Lanata got 24.7 rating points against 16 for the Boca-Newell's match.[15]
Oscar Parrilli said that the stay in Seychelles was of 13 hours and not 2 days, and critizised Lanata for trusting the official information. Parrilli described Lanata as a hitman and murderer, and said that the Grupo Clarín was a threat to democracy.[16]
Bibliography
- Mendelevich, Pablo (2013). El relato kirchnerista en 200 expresiones. Ediciones B. ISBN 978-987-627-412-8.
References
- ^ a b Roger Zuzunaga (May 19, 2013). "Los K y la ruta del dinero negro" (in Spanish). El Comercio. Retrieved October 22, 2013.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|trans_title=ignored (|trans-title=suggested) (help) - ^ "Jorge Lanata mostró la ruta del dinero de Lázaro Báez" (in Spanish). La Nación. April 15, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2013.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|trans_title=ignored (|trans-title=suggested) (help) - ^ "Fabián Rossi: "No tengo nada que ocultar"" (in Spanish). La Nación. April 16, 2013. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|trans_title=ignored (|trans-title=suggested) (help) - ^ "Otra denuncia por la "ruta del dinero kirchnerista"" (in Spanish). La Nación. May 6, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2013.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|trans_title=ignored (|trans-title=suggested) (help) - ^ "Ex fiscal de Santa Cruz: "Lo que tiene Lázaro Báez es de Néstor Kirchner"" (in Spanish). La Nación. May 18, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2013.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|trans_title=ignored (|trans-title=suggested) (help) - ^ "Jorge Lanata denunció que Néstor Kirchner y Lázaro Báez compraron pases de jugadores para Racing" (in Spanish). La Nación. May 20, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2013.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|trans_title=ignored (|trans-title=suggested) (help) - ^ "Jorge Lanata mostró las islas Seychelles, el paraíso fiscal vinculado a la ruta del dinero K" (in Spanish). La Nación. August 19, 2013. Retrieved August 19, 2013.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|trans_title=ignored (|trans-title=suggested) (help) - ^ "La oposición presentó cinco denuncias por el escándalo de Lázaro Báez" (in Spanish). La Nación. April 16, 2013. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|trans_title=ignored (|trans-title=suggested) (help) - ^ "Carlos Kunkel dijo que si se prueba que Lázaro Báez cometió un delito, debería ir "preso"" (in Spanish). La Nación. April 16, 2013. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|trans_title=ignored (|trans-title=suggested) (help) - ^ a b Mendelevich, p. 158
- ^ "El gobierno buscará farandulizar el caso" (in Spanish). La Nación. April 16, 2013. Retrieved November 11, 2013.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|trans_title=ignored (|trans-title=suggested) (help) - ^ "El jefe de La Cámpora vuelve a denunciar "un movimiento destituyente" y convoca a "organizarse"" (in Spanish). La Nación. May 24, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2013.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|trans_title=ignored (|trans-title=suggested) (help) - ^ "Ricardo Forster: "¡Qué carajo sé cómo hizo la plata Lázaro Báez!"" (in Spanish). La Nación. May 23, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2013.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|trans_title=ignored (|trans-title=suggested) (help) - ^ "Cambian la hora de los partidos para competir con Lanata" (in Spanish). La Nación. May 22, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2013.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|trans_title=ignored (|trans-title=suggested) (help) - ^ "Jorge Lanata superó a la TV Pública en la batalla por el rating" (in Spanish). La Nación. May 27, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2013.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|trans_title=ignored (|trans-title=suggested) (help) - ^ "Parrilli dice que Lanata es "un asesino mediático"" (in Spanish). Clarín. August 19, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2013.
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