Witness mistakenly summoned to trial against Cristina Fernández de Kirchner

A judicial mix-up caused a delay in the corruption trial against former Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner when a witness was summoned by mistake. The trial, known as the "Cuadernos" case, involves allegations of a systematic scheme for illegal fundraising and institutional bribery.

The 73-year-old accountant, also named Juan Carlos Santos, appeared before the court and swore to tell the truth. However, he surprised the judges by stating, "You have the wrong Juan Carlos Santos." He clarified that his only link to tax authorities was a three-day internship in 1979 and that he had no professional role in 2018, the year under scrutiny.

The court, led by Judge Enrique Méndez Signori, recognized the administrative error. The witness had received a brief summons via WhatsApp, which disrupted his travel plans. After confirming the discrepancy, the judges apologized for the mistake, attributing it to a system error involving a homonym, and allowed the witness to leave. The prosecution intended to call a different Juan Carlos Santos, a former subdirector at Argentina's Federal Administration of Public Revenue (AFIP), whose testimony was sought to validate audit reports and financial transactions linked to state contractors.