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Cristina Fernandez denies any hidden cash or values: “they can dig up all of Patagonia”

Wednesday, September 19th 2018 - 09:07 UTC
Full article 5 comments
“They can dig up all of Patagonia, but they will never find anything because I never received any illicit money,” the Cristina Fernandez statement said “They can dig up all of Patagonia, but they will never find anything because I never received any illicit money,” the Cristina Fernandez statement said
Federal Judge Claudio Bonadio said in the indictment that officials had found empty vaults under the house, but no money Federal Judge Claudio Bonadio said in the indictment that officials had found empty vaults under the house, but no money
Cristina Fernandez is accused of heading a network in which officials forcibly took bribes from construction companies in exchange for public works contracts Cristina Fernandez is accused of heading a network in which officials forcibly took bribes from construction companies in exchange for public works contracts

Argentina's ex-President Cristina Fernandez said on Tuesday that she never received corrupt payments and challenged investigators to scour her home region of Patagonia if they believed she had hidden cash, a day after she was indicted on graft charges.

 Using her immunity as a senator to refuse to answer any questions, Fernandez handed a written statement to the federal judge investigating a sprawling bribery scandal that has ensnared dozens of former officials and construction company executives. The statement was published on her party's website.

“They can dig up all of Patagonia, but they will never find anything because I never received any illicit money,” the statement said, citing official allegations that cash was kept in underground vaults at Cristina Fernandez's private residence or hidden in containers in the southern Argentina countryside.

Federal Judge Claudio Bonadio said in the indictment that officials had found empty vaults under the house, but no money.

Cristina Fernandez, president from 2007 through 2015, is accused of heading a network in which officials in her administration forcibly took bribes from construction companies in exchange for public works contracts.

Known as the “notebooks” scandal, the allegations arose in August after a local newspaper published diaries kept by a former government chauffeur, who said his notes documented hundreds of millions of dollars delivered to the offices of Cristina Fernandez and her late husband and presidential predecessor Nestor Kirchner.

“There is no evidence that links me to this alleged network,” Fernandez's statement said. She was previously indicted on corruption charges in 2016 after her former public works secretary was caught trying to hide bags of cash in a convent.

Cristina Fernandez's current position as a senator grants her immunity from arrest, but not from investigation.

Categories: Politics, Argentina.

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  • golfcronie

    Cristina, we all know it has been spirited away,she is not going to have millions in US$ in Argentina is she.

    Sep 19th, 2018 - 11:54 am +4
  • Conqueror

    @GC. Quite right. Don't I recall that, when she was still in power, there were stories about extra suitcases, holdalls etc being loaded aboard the presidential aircraft? So any actual cash will be outside argieland. But, surely it's time to start seizing all the family assets?

    Sep 19th, 2018 - 03:36 pm +1
  • golfcronie

    Get her to come up with invoices and proof of ownership of properties if legitimate.There has to be a paper trail or are we talking about lack of paper trail after all this is Latin America.

    Sep 19th, 2018 - 04:30 pm +1
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