Testimonies in 'Cuadernos' case reveal suspicious cash movements

Testimonies in the "Cuadernos" corruption case continue to build a substantial body of evidence regarding illicit fund movements between 2003 and 2015. Recent hearings featured former officials from Argentina's Federal Administration of Public Revenue (AFIP), who responded to requests from Judge Claudio Bonadío.

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We investigated the partners of the Eling group, Osvaldo Acosta and Gerardo Ferreyra. We found that there were companies to which Electroingeniería sent funds. They were media companies: Radiodifusión del Plata and Televisión Digital Argentina. Those were the companies we investigated.

These officials were tasked with identifying traces of money collected by companies that had dealings with the state and were listed as bribe payers in the notebooks written by Oscar Centeno. Accountant Alfredo Pedro Puyo testified about detecting a cash withdrawal of approximately "two million dollars" during 2018-2019, noting that such a movement of funds "drew attention." He later specified the amount as $2.4 million. Puyo's investigation focused on partners of the Eling group, Osvaldo Acosta and Gerardo Ferreyra, and found that companies like Radiodifusión del Plata and Televisión Digital Argentina, which are media companies, received funds from Electroingeniería. He found it unusual for a company to hold $2 million in cash for over a fiscal year if it was operating at a loss.

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when a company has a loss, it is strange that it keeps two million in cash for more than a fiscal year.

Accountant Matilde Lanza also reported suspicious cash movements at Decavial, a company owned by Marcelino Aznar, uncovering a discrepancy of over $5 million. She also recalled a specific withdrawal of $315,000 in cash by Hugo Dragonetti's son from Panedile, a company linked to the repentant businessman Hugo Alberto Dragonetti. Lanza noted that this withdrawal coincided temporally with documented money deliveries in the case file.

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coincided temporally

These testimonies are solidifying the vast and scandalous corruption scheme that unfolded during those years. Former Minister of Economy Roberto Lavagna, who had previously stated under oath that there were "overpricing margins, on average, of around 20%," is among those who have testified. The AFIP employees, now testifying, were fulfilling their duties when they received requests from Judge Bonadío to identify "spurious financing" from a list of companies implicated in the notebooks.

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there were some margins of overpricing, on average, of the order of 20%.