Judge Ariel Lijo to consolidate all 'blue dollar' business cases

Federal Judge Ariel Lijo has been assigned all cases concerning a financial scheme that exploited the "blue dollar" during a past period of currency controls. This consolidation follows the recusal of Judge María Eugenia Capuchetti from a 2021 case against a currency exchange house, and Judge María Servini's prior transfer of her case to Lijo's jurisdiction. The move centralizes three major investigations into the "financial rulo," a maneuver that has implicated former officials from the Economy Ministry and the Central Bank during the administrations of Sergio Massa and Miguel Angel Pesce.

In the "Marvic" case, Judge Capuchetti, acting on a request from prosecutor Eduardo Taiano, identified a common factual core. This core involves the alleged use of currency exchange agencies and other entities to obtain foreign currency at the official rate through operations lacking real economic backing or supported by fraudulent documentation. The goal was to profit from the difference between the official and parallel exchange rates. Capuchetti cited specific operations by N y M Cambio S.A. and Marvic S.A., noting objective and personal connections, corporate relationships, and operational links between individuals involved, with transfers between agencies appearing in multiple investigations.

The primary case now in Lijo's hands, initiated by prosecutor Franco Picardi, investigates events between 2020 and 2023. The hypothesis suggests that financiers, currency traders, and public officials collaborated in a mechanism to acquire foreign currency at the official exchange rate through various exchange houses, subsequently selling it on the parallel market. The accused allegedly created corporate and operational structures to circumvent currency restrictions and access significantly larger volumes of foreign currency than permitted, reportedly with the implicit approval of Central Bank authorities. The objective was to obscure the origin of funds and obtain physical currency for sale on the informal market, with profits increasing as the gap between the official and "blue" rates widened.

A secondary line of inquiry within Lijo's consolidated cases involves an alleged irregular management of authorizations for the System of Imports of the Argentine Republic (SIRA). Intermediaries reportedly facilitated administrative approvals in exchange for bribes paid to officials in various agencies, including the Central Bank. These bribes allegedly ranged from 10% to 15% of the transaction value.