Argentina’s Vice President; Cristina Fernandez Found To Have Committed Fraud

Cristina Fernandez, the vice president of Argentina, was found guilty on Tuesday and given a lifetime ban on holding public office in addition to a six-year prison sentence. The fraud scheme involved the theft of one billion US dollars from public works projects while she was president.

The Peronist leader was found guilty of fraud by a three-judge panel, but the accusation of leading a criminal organization—for which a 12-year jail sentence might have been imposed—was dismissed.

First vice president of Argentina to be found guilty of a crime while in office.

The verdict on appeals, which might take years, will determine whether the sentence is final. She will continue to be safe from arrest in the meanwhile.

She called herself the victim of a “judicial mafia” in her post-verdict remarks.

With a statewide strike, her followers pledged to bring the nation to a standstill. They jammed up central Buenos Aires and marched on the federal courthouse, pounding on police barricades while beating drums and yelling.

Cristina Fernandez categorically refuted every charge. She was accused of improperly awarding public works contracts to a construction magnate who was closely associated with her family. She has been Argentina’s dominant leader this century.

Lazaro Baez, a construction magnate and early ally of Fernandez and her husband Nestor Kirchner, who served as president from 2003–2007 and passed away unexpectedly in 2010, was given 51 public works projects, according to the prosecution. Nestor Kirchner died in 2010 from a sudden illness.

Twelve additional people, including Baez and officials from Fernandez’s presidency from 2007 to 2015, were charged with the plot. Jose Lopez, the previous president’s secretary of public works, and Baez both received six-year sentences from the panel. Most of the other people received shorter sentences.

According to Diego Luciani and Sergio Mola, the Baez firm was founded to steal money from projects that were incorrectly bid, beyond budget, and frequently never finished. After the Kirchners’ 12 years in power, the corporation allegedly vanished, according to them.

In such cases, judges in Argentina typically deliver convictions and punishments first before explaining their reasoning. In February, the panel’s final ruling is anticipated. The verdict may then be appealed to the Supreme Court, a procedure that might take many years.