Alberto Fernández indicted for possible irregularities in insurance contracting

The former president was indicted on Thursday in the case in which alleged irregularities in the hiring of a "broker and private companies" to intermediate in the management of insurance in official dependencies during his governmentare being investigated , judicial sources informed. The former president affirmed that the accusation "is an operation".

The investigation was initiated this afternoon by the federal prosecutor Ramiro González, who has already requested the first measures of evidence, said the sources. The plaintiff requested the investigation of "the alleged commission of the crimes of violation of the duties of a public official and abuse of authority and embezzlement of public funds".

The defendants are "the former President of the Nation, Dr. Alberto Fernández, the former head of Nación Seguros S.A., Alberto Pagliano, and Héctor Martínez, without prejudice that the course of the investigation may help to know the participation of other persons in the alleged maneuvers", the ruling stated.

Héctor Martínez Sosa is a broker who is married to one of Fernández's secretaries, María Cantero, according to the complaint. The case was initiated from the complaint filed on Wednesday by lawyer Silvina Martinez to investigate the "alleged irregularities occurred around Decree 823/2021, signed on December 2, 2021," the prosecutor detailed.

Gonzalez demanded as evidence measures that "the National Cabinet of Ministers and the Legal and Technical Secretariat of the Presidency of the Nation be requested to provide the background, proceedings and/or legal opinions related to the issuance of Decree No. 823/2021", which provided for the contracting of the insurance policies.

"It may be of interest for the development of the investigation to have all the agreements or contracts made from the different departments of the National State that subscribed insurance contracts under the terms indicated in said regulation and through intermediaries," he added.

According to the prosecutor, "the Superintendence of Insurance of the Nation can provide relevant data in that sense, and at the same time it can unveil the question as to what was the market percentage for that type of operations".

In this context, he demanded that "Seguros Nación be requested to submit all the contracts or agreements signed with public agencies as from the Decree, providing all the data available regarding the participation of intermediaries between such agency and the contracting governmental entity".

What Alberto Fernández said

The former President spoke to Radio La Red and defined as "an operation" the article published in the newspaper Clarín, which was the basis of the judicial filing, that he did not participate in "any business deal" and that "many good people are being affected, simply because someone said that it was a cash box".

"The note says that (the former head of ANSES) Osvaldo Giordano, whom I know and I know that he is a good man, but he is confused on this issue, was not dismissed because his wife voted against him, but because he dismantled a political box. There is nothing like that", he affirmed.

Regarding Martínez Sosa, Fernández affirmed that he knows him and that he owes him money for "a personal loan that he gave me and I declared before the AFIP". "When I left the Chief of Cabinet shortly after I had a financial problem, because I closed the law firm, as I did when I was president. When I came back I had a hard time rebuilding my portfolio of clients and I had a financial problem with which Martínez Sosa helped me. This was in 2009 or 2010 and I still owe him money. And it is in all the statements I filed with the AFIP when I was an official or not," he explained.

About his secretary, who pointed out that she was his secretary for "30 years", he remarked: "I know María very well and she is not capable of doing that. I want to say that I only put my hands in the fire for me, but this is not meant to be a disqualification against her".

And he added: "When I was Superintendent of Insurance, Martínez Sosa's father was one of the biggest brokers in Argentina. His son inherited that company and must have made it grow, I have no idea. My secretary is his partner for almost 30 years as well. I know Maria very well. The journalist who asked me the question yesterday and I told her that I don't think she did that (...) I don't know, but if she did it, she went too far".

Regarding the accusation, the former president explained that "in technical terms it is to investigate, it is not to accuse someone". "It is good what the prosecutor is doing. I want it to be investigated, because they will realize the lie that Clarín published".

"I am not corrupt and I have made of my life a cult of honesty", he closed, and then added: "I did not even take an eraser from the State".