Former Argentine President Alberto Fernández was in the crosshairs of the judiciary this Thursday because of a scandal involving insurance contracts of public organizations during his term in office. Prosecutor Ramírez González accused him of allegedly committing the crimes of breach of public official's duties and embezzlement of funds.
The complaint requests that the former president, who stayed at Casa Rosada between 2019 and 2023, be investigated for alleged irregularities related to a decree signed by Fernández at the end of 2021 in which he ordered that all public organizations have to take out insurance in the country. Insurance owned by Banco Nación, a government entity. The complainants accuse the former president of favoring his friends, who acted as go-betweens in return for millions of dollars in commissions.
Although these insurances could be taken out directly, the public organizations used his friend Héctor Martínez Sosa, the husband of his secretary María Cantero, as an intermediary. Martínez Sosa also appears in his affidavits as a creditor of the former president. In addition to Martínez Sosa, the defendants also include the former head of the Nación Seguros, Alberto Pagliano. The scandal involving the former Peronist president investigates an alleged fraud of 20,000 million pesos, almost 20 million dollars.
At first, Fernández tried to direct suspicion towards his secretary: “I didn't ask for anyone, and if my secretary did, she overstepped her bounds.” After the accusation this Thursday, he defended himself more clearly: “I didn't steal anything and did not participate in any negotiation or authorize any negotiation,” he told Radio La Red.
Martínez Sosa and other insurance providers appear as visitors to the Olivos presidential villa in 2020, even during the curfew imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Fernández does not deny the connection, but denies that the visits were of a business nature. “I create a cult of honesty. “I know that I am a public figure and I speak to explain it to people,” he added.
González has requested “all agreements or contracts” made by the various ministries of the state that have signed insurance contracts under the terms of the presidential decree. The prosecutor has asked the insurance regulator to disclose the market share for these types of operations. The accusation comes days after the former president returned to Argentina. After passing the baton to Javier Milei on December 10, Fernández traveled to Spain to settle there with his family for a few months.
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