Three years ago, Argentine journalists uncovered a vast web of corruption and money laundering surrounding former President Néstor Kirchner, who ruled the country between 2003 and 2008 and died in 2010. Now new details are emerging.
One of the Kirchners is Lázaro Báez - a construction lion whose economic rise is closely linked to the Kirchners' political rise. The revelations in the press also brought the judiciary into action, as handelszeitung.ch reported . Prosecutor José María Campagnoli presented a report that showed how Báez's entourage took millions of dollars out of the country and apparently also used Swiss-based trustee and compatriot Néstor Marcelo Ramos and his Helvetic Services Group.
New attempt
Argentine prosecutors have already tried in the past to repatriate millions of allegedly hidden funds in Switzerland - without success. Argentine judicial authorities have now again presented themselves to the Federal Office of Justice (BJ). They want to see account data from various Swiss banks: Sarasin, Lombard Odier, Citibank and PKB are in the sights of the South Americans - this was reported by the Argentine journalist Juan Gasparini, who lives in Geneva, at the weekend .
The new request for legal assistance, which is available to handelszeitung.ch, not only directly concerns Lázaro Báez's Swiss accounts but also the accounts of his children as well as the Italian-Argentinian Nestor Ramos from Ticino and his Swiss company Helvetic Services Group. Ramos' Helvetic Services Group left a written query about the case unanswered.
Also in Liechtenstein accounts
The Argentine prosecutors' request for legal assistance concerns companies in Panama, Belize, Uruguay, the United States and Argentina. The main financial flows all took place in Switzerland in Geneva and Lugano as well as Liechtenstein at the LGT Bank in Vaduz. In one case alone, Argentine prosecutors put the money evaded through Switzerland at over $32 million. Handelszeitung.ch had reported on this several times in the past, as the activities of the Helvetic Services Group extended into the Swiss football scene.
The investigators were also able to trace money flows between the Helvetic Services Group and the ex-Fifa Ethics Commission member Juan Damiani Damiani has been well known since the Panama Papers revelations - and resigned from FIFA. The authorities are now also investigating lawyer Damiani, according to the document available to handelszeitung.ch.
Complex case
A request for legal assistance regarding the Báez case was received in Bern as early as September 2015. However, the particularly complex request turned out to be incomplete, a spokesman for the BJ told handelszeitung.ch. In April 2016, the BJ therefore asked the Argentine authorities for additions and explanations. At the end of August, the BJ received an amended request for legal assistance.
In the investigation file, the prosecutors also relied on the findings of an unexpected ally: hedge fund guru Paul Singer. He took legal action against Argentina over national debts amounting to 1.7 billion US dollars. In the course of these proceedings he had gained important information for the trial, which the Argentines' initial investigations confirmed .
Source: Handelszeitung
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