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Amid the leaks of the chats of the former secretary of Alberto Fernandezthe Federal Court of Criminal Appeals will decide this week whether the federal judge Julian Ercolini will continue to investigate the former president, who asked to remove the judge from his case because he believes there is enmity between them. Fernández understands that this is a response because at the time he sent a complaint against him for the trip he made to Lago Escondido in the company of other judges, former officials of the City government, businessmen and former intelligence officials.
The challenge of Alberto Fernández against Ercolini was already rejected by the magistrate himself, who said that there is no enmity and that the previous complaint that the former president argues was not made by Fernández himself but – as he announced on national television – was an indication for officials of his Government to do so. The Federal Chamber – with the signature of the judge Roberto Boico in a personal manner – also rejected the recusal of Ercolini and now his lawyer Mariana Barbitta went to the Court of Cassation with the claim.
By lot, the judge of the Court of Cassation was appointed to resolve the matter. Gustavo Hornosin a personal capacity. The magistrate summoned Barbitta and eventually Fernández if he wanted to participate, a hearing that will take place this Wednesday at 10 in the federal courts of Comodoro Py 2002. After hearing the defense’s arguments, Hornos will decide whether to keep Ercolini in the case or remove him from the file.
It is rare for recusals of magistrates to succeed, since the reasons are regulated, are exhaustive and are interpreted with a restrictive criterion. Fernández argues fear of partiality and manifest enmity. One of the reasons for recusal is the existence of a complaint prior to the case of the accused against the judge. But Boico, in rejecting the argument, said that the request to denounce Ercolini was not on a personal level, but institutional, in his role as president. In this case, the challenge is unlikely to succeed.
Hector Martinez Sosa, in a race where he went to see Agustin Canapino
Fernández and Ercolini were professors in the same department at the Faculty of Law and had a friendly relationship, to the point that the former president went to see him for issues related to his clients as a lawyer. But then Fernández ended up criticizing him and confronting him over the Lago Escondido case.
The hearing will take place amid leaks of the chats from the phone of Maria Cantero, former secretary of the former president, who is the wife of Hector Martinez Sosaand broker who collected millions in commissions for the insurance he had with public agencies. Between 2020 and 2023, his company collected 223 million pesos. The first insurance company in that ranking is Bachelier, which collected 1,665 million pesos and which – according to the official complaint – is suspected of being linked to Martínez Sosa.
Chats between Cantero and her husband reveal alleged episodes of gender violence that she suffered Fabiola Yanezthe former president’s partner, and also an alleged intervention or interest in the insurance contracts that Martínez Sosa obtained. A message where Cantero complains that his wife lost the Foreign Ministry insurance is revealing, and Fernandez tells him that he would take care of it.
In this scenario, the hearing will be held on Wednesday. But in addition, the judges of the Court of Cassation must resolve another incident related to the assets of Alberto Fernández and the other defendants. Ercolini inhibited the assets of all. But the Federal Court revoked that decision with the signature of the judges Eduardo Farah y Roberto Boicoand the dissent of Martín Irurzun and allowed everyone to move their money.
The chats between Cantero and Martínez Sosa
The prosecution filed an appeal for the Court of Cassation to freeze the assets again. If the appeal is opened, this possibility will be analyzed and if it remains closed, the businessmen will continue to have access to their money. The judges who must decide on the assets of the accused are Hornos, Mariano Borinsky y Javier Carbajo.
The former officials, businessmen and companies accused are, in addition to Alberto Fernandez, Alberto Carlos Pagliano, Hector Martinez Sosa and Company SA, Hector Horacio Martinez Sosa, Guillermo Alejandro Alonso, Maria Marta Cantero, TG Broker SA, Pablo Andres Torres Garcia, Guillermo Eugenio Torres Garcia, Bachellier SA, Osvaldo Alfredo Tortora, Ricardo Daniel Gonzalez, Castello Mercuri SA, Oscar Alberto Castello, Ernesto Mercuri, San Ignacio Society of Insurance Advisory Producers SA, Brian Kelly, Hernan Marcos Bressi, San German Insurance SA, Hector Basilio Villaverde, Camilo Moreno Crotto, Marcela Veronica Baldini, Mauro Damian Tanos, Maria Victoria Bisogni, Alfredo Del Corro, Mariana Lourdes Trupia, Carlos Alberto Suarez, Marcos Federico Eufemio, Damian Gosso, Diego Nicolas Rosendi, Lucas Pablo Rosendi, May 7 Labor Cooperative Limited and Labor Cooperative Irigoin Limited.
The trip to Lago Escondido was announced in December 2022, hours after the sentence against Cristina Kirchner in the Vialidad case to 6 years of pressure. Ercolini was the judge who instructed that case and elevated it to trial. Details of the trip were known because the Telegram chat of the then Buenos Aires Minister of Justice was hacked Marcelo D’Alesandrowhere the travelers, who were judges, former agents of the Federal Intelligence Agency (AFI) and executives of Grupo Clarín, were supposedly talking. That trip had taken place in October, and had as its destination the residence of businessman Joe Lewis.
Among the travelers were the judges Ercolini, Carlos Mahiques, Pablo Cayssials y Pablo Yadarola; the head of the City prosecutors, Juan Bautista Mahiques (Carlos’ son); D’Alessandro; the businessman specializing in digital campaigns Thomas Reinke; and the former head of legal affairs at the AFI, Leo Bergroth.
The court ruled out any crime in connection with this trip, as the news arose from an illegal spying operation. And there is an open case to determine who hacked D’Alesandro’s phone and circulated those chats.
Conocé The Trust Project
