MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina: Grim future for controversial politician Insaurralde

Insaurralde filed an affidavit saying he had no foreign currency and then allegedly paid an US$ 20 million divorce settlement

Things are going from bad to worse for former Buenos Aires Cabinet Chief Martín Insaurralde, whose scandal with high-profile escort Sofía Clerici on a luxury yacht off Marbella splashed Argentine Economy Minister and presidential candidate Sergio Massa's chances in the upcoming Oct. 22 elections.

Argentine Congresswoman Graciela Ocaña filed a complaint against Insaurralde before Uruguay's National Secretariat for the Fight against Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism for having paid his ex-wife model Jesica Cirio a US$ 20 million divorce settlement through Montevideo's banking system.

Insaurralde had submitted an affidavit in August 2022 stating that he had a little more than 600,000 Argentine pesos and no dollars or euros.

In addition to the investigation launched in Uruguay, Lomas de Zamora Federal Prosecutor Cecilia Incardona Thursday charged Insaurralde, Cirio, for illicit enrichment and money laundering and Clérici for the crime of concealment at the request of opposition Congressman Ricardo López Murphy and senatorial candidate María Eugenia Talarico.

Incardona filed the prosecution case before Judge Ernesto Kreplak, temporarily in charge of the Lomas de Zamora Federal Court Number 2. Judge Kreplak will also handle another case against Insaurralde and Clerici after Judge Federico Villena recused himself citing “moral violence” issues regarding his alleged lack of impartiality, in addition to Insaurralde's first ex-wife Liana Toledo being a clerk at the court.

Migration records suggest Insaurralde had been cheating on Cirio with Clerici for 2 years.

Judge Kreplak is the brother of current Buenos Aires Health Minister Nicolás Kreplak. Hence, the entire scandal remains within the Kirchnerite family of Governor Axel Kiciloff, whose reelection bid was also under the spotlight after the scandal broke out. However, Kreplak, who also investigated and imprisoned union leader Marcelo Balcedo, owner of the La Plata-based Hoy outlet, has been reported not to be of the liking of Deputy Máximo Kirchner's La Campora movement. Now, the magistrate will be in charge of an investigation that is getting on the nerves of Buenos Aires politics.