MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

First Kirchnerite minister to be sentenced to four years in prison

Felisa Miceli who was Finance minister from 2005 to 2007 anticipated she would appeal.

Argentine former Economy Minister Felisa Miceli was sentenced to 4 years in prison after being found guilty of hiding and destroying evidence after a bag full of cash was found in her office in 2007; an incident which ended with her resigning from office.

Despite finding the former minister guilty and being convicted, Miceli will not be put into jail as the sentence has yet to be confirmed in order to be effective.

The verdict follows Prosecutor Guillermo Marijuán's request who had asked for four years during the trial. Marijuan had also expressed to believe that the money had an illicit origin.

Likewise, Miceli was banned from taking any public post for at least 8 years.

After the verdict, Miceli talked to reporters: “I'm not guilty, and I will probe it. I'm going to appeal the verdict. It was a trial in which they could never establish any certain links between me and this alleged finance company to which they said the money belonged to. I have never heard of that company in my entire life.”

In a televised trial in which the population could watch its beginning, the allegations of both parties and the verdict, Miceli became the first Kirchnerite era official to be found guilty on charges and sentenced to prison.

Miceli was in charge of the Economy Minister between November 2005 and July 2007 when Néstor Kirchner was President of Argentina. Since Kirchner was well aware of the economy and budget numbers, Miceli was considered an anodyne member of the cabinet who never questioned her master’s decisions.

Police officers were on a routine early morning security check on Miceli’s office at the Economy Ministry and before she arrived, when they found a paper bag with 100.000 pesos and 31.670 dollars in the bathroom.

The 100.000 Argentine pesos were inside a thermo-sealed package, with the inscription Lote 38057 Bco 30 and are only used by the Argentine central bank.