On October 21, 2009, a week before taking office as mayor of Lomas de Zamora, Martin Insaurralde founded Sasaxa Libero SA, a company in which he located direct family members and which helped him hide properties, luxury cars and black funds. For Justice, he used it as a front to launder money and enrich himself illicitly. His two sons, Martín and Rodrigo, and his nephew Gastón Barrachina were partners in that company.
Prosecutors Sergio Mola and Diego Velasco asked that all of them be investigated for alleged money laundering along with Insaurralde, his ex-wife Carolina Alvarez and the alleged front man Víctor Donadio.
The history of Sasaxa SA begins on October 21, 2009 when Martín Insaurralde and Gastón Barrachina, his nephew, formed the company. Insaurralde initially had 90% of the share package, while Barrachina owned 10%. In the papers Barrachina was the president of the society.
The date of the company’s creation is not a minor fact. Seven days later, on October 28, 2009, Insaurralde took over as mayor of Lomas de Zamora. after the resignation of Jorge Rossi, who had held the position since 2003. Until that moment, Insaurralde was the secretary of the municipality’s Government and the right-hand man of the Peronist mayor.
Martín Insaurralde’s house in San Vicente when he was raided by Justice.
The company was created with the stated objective of carrying out advertising activities. However, over timethe company was used for other, darker purposes. Prosecutors Mola and Velasco detailed in the resolution where they request the investigation of the former mayor who Sasaxa was a shell to hide the ownership of assets and the origin of funds.
The company had a key role in the purchase and administration of lots 242 and 243 in the gated community Fincas de San Vicente Club de Chacras SAin the province of Buenos Aires. These lands were initially acquired in 2006 by Carolina Álvarez, Insaurralde’s ex-wife, and transferred in 2011 to Sasaxa SA, through a series of corporate maneuvers that included the participation of another related company, DOIO SRL.
DOIO is also under suspicion. The company was a contractor for the government of the Province of Buenos Aires and especially from the municipality of Lomas de Zamora and in the procedures for awarding works, in most cases the signature of Insaurralde himself appears as mayor endorsing business. Víctor Mariano Donadío, partner of DOIO, is suspected of being an alleged front man for the former mayor.
Martín Insaurralde’s house in San Vicente when he was raided by Justice
Insaurralde’s sons, Martín and Rodrigo, joined the company over time. In January 2012, the then mayor of Lomas decided to transfer 3,600 shares of his participation to his son Martín, who was 18 years old at the time. This change was significant, since the young man had no formal income at the time of receiving these shares, which raises suspicions about the justification of this transaction.
In November 2015, Barrachina, Insaurralde’s nephew, sold his shareholding to Rodrigo, the former official’s second son. Thus, the presence of the closest and most familiar nucleus within society was consolidated.
The photos that unleashed the “yachtgate”: Sofía Clerici and Martín Insaurralde in Marbella
On January 8, 2018, with Insaurralde’s children already within the company, Sasaxa SA signed a bailment contract to transfer the use of a property in the Fincas de San Vicente gated community to Insaurralde and his then wife, Jésica Cirio. The contract was renewed on July 8, 2021. This agreement allowed them to use the property without them being listed as direct owners.
Although the property was in the name of the company, Insaurralde and Cirio financed the improvements and expenses during the period in which they occupied the property. This included payments to the company Fincas de San Vicente Club de Chacras SA and the Municipality of San Vicente for municipal taxes, demonstrating their role in the management of the property. Cirio herself made the payment transfers as detailed by prosecutors.
For prosecutors, the bailment contract It was a strategy so that Insaurralde and Cirio could enjoy the property without appearing as owners in the formal records, which is relevant in the context of the investigation for alleged illicit enrichment. Through this structure, the assets were prevented from being traced directly to their name, which allowed them to continue maintaining control and use of the property while hiding the actual ownership.
Black backgrounds and luxury cars
The Insaurralde company also participated in the purchase of high-end vehicles, where a modus operandi similar to that of real estate was applied. One of the most obvious examples is the purchase of a Volkswagen Tiguan truck in 2012 for 312,300 pesos at that time. Although the vehicle was not listed in the name of Kicillof’s former chief of staff, he used it through a driving authorization, making it difficult to trace direct ownership.
Another maneuver under suspicion is for the purchase of a Chevrolet Tracker truck acquired in 2017. This vehicle was purchased under a collateral loan and, as in the case of the Tiguan, Insaurralde was not listed as its owner. He also had authorizations to drive an Audi Q3 truck, a Jeep Compass, a Hyundai H1 and a Vespa motorcycle.
To operate, Sasaxa had a checking account opened at Banco Supervielle that received funds, deposits and transfers that for Justice are not possible to justify due to the few commercial operations that the company had. Between 2011 and 2021, the society received funds of $8,620,967. For prosecutors Mola and Velasco, those funds were “from acts of corruption linked to the exercise of the different public functions carried out by Insaurralde”. The representatives of that checking account were his nephew Barrachina and his son Rodrigo.
After the prosecutors’ request for an investigation, the judge in the case Ernesto Kreplak demanded that the former mayor explain his fortune within ten days. Insaurralde and his lawyers will have to work against each other to try to provide an explanation.
