Argentina's top prosecutor seeks to overturn ex-minister's acquittal in $800,000 suitcase case

Argentina's top prosecutor is urging the Supreme Court to overturn the acquittal of former minister Julio de Vido in a high-profile corruption case. The case centers on the 2007 attempt to smuggle $800,000 into the country in a suitcase by a Venezuelan man, Guido Antonini Wilson. Prosecutors suspect the money was intended to fund the Kirchnerist political movement's election campaign that year.

Interim Attorney General Eduardo Casal supported an appeal by prosecutors, arguing that the Cassation Chamber made significant errors. He stated the court wrongly concluded that the former minister had no involvement in the attempt to bring undeclared U.S. currency into Argentina via a private jet from Caracas. Casal contends the acquittal was arbitrary, as the judges acknowledged the same evidence that led prosecutors to seek a conviction but then deemed it insufficient.

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arbitrary acquittal

The incident involved a private plane landing at Buenos Aires' Aeroparque in August 2007. Among the passengers was Claudio Uberti, a close confidant of De Vido. Antonini Wilson was found with the undeclared cash in a suitcase. Wilson fled the country and remains a fugitive.

While a lower court acquitted De Vido in September 2023, it did sentence Uberti to over four years in prison and handed down lesser sentences to customs officials involved. The case now rests with the Supreme Court for a final decision.

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contradiction insostenible