In the case of theft of the suspect Nicolás Eduardo Aramayo, Federal Court No. 3 of the city of Córdoba, accused of having stolen 500 thousand pesos from his boss, the Federal Court of Appeals of this jurisdiction finally applied a 30-day suspension. In this way, the employee managed not to be fired.
The case caused a real uproar in the courthouse, because it occurred within a court and involved Aramayo (35), a relative of local magistrates.
theft and admission
On the morning of June 1, the clerk of the Civil Secretariat of Court No. 3, in charge of Miguel Hugo Vaca Narvaja, seized his partner’s cell phone while the rest of the staff celebrated a birthday in another office on the same eighth floor. .
In the time window between 7:30 a.m. and 8:05 a.m., he took the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE that the victim had left inside his wallet. Knowing that her partner had credited her salary in her savings account, she entered the Banco Nación (BNA +) application with her password and accessed the debit card linked to the account.
Aramayo knew the woman’s bank details because they had a friendly relationship, according to the accusation by prosecutor No. 2, Carlos Casas Nóblega. The link was such that, previously, her partner had given him access to her cell phone to make her credit card payments (through BNA +).
From the app, he made three transfers for a total of 455,000 pesos, which the prosecutor suspected had previously agreed with the account holders to whom the funds went: one in the name of Marcos Elías Fuertes (for $165,000); another to Patricio David Schrrab (also for $165 thousand) and the third, to another man (for $125 thousand).
This last transfer was made to pay for a monitor that had been previously purchased by a third party for Aramayo. The payment was made through that third account, whose owner is not charged.
After emptying his partner’s account, the clerk hid his friend’s cell phone under the refrigerator located in the kitchen on the eighth floor and returned to the office.
The scandal broke out when the victim found the shortage and this led to the filing of a criminal complaint. The prosecutor charged Aramayo as the author of theft and fraud, while Fuertes, Schrrab and Cohen were charged as necessary participants in fraud.
criminal investigation
After the defendants’ statement, Aramayo asked the then Judge No. 1, Ricardo Bustos Fierro, for a private agreement for comprehensive reparation for the damage with the consent of the victim, following the restitution of the money.
The agreement contemplated the delivery of 655 thousand pesos (already paid by the defendant) in exchange for the resignation of the victim to become a private plaintiff or civil plaintiff, and the dismissal due to termination of the criminal action was requested.
However, the prosecutor did not accept the proposal. For Casas Nóblega, the defendant’s actions not only affected the complainant but also damaged the image of the National Judiciary before society and the media. Bustos Fierro decided not to accept the request for approval of the agreement and extinction of the action, with which Aramayo continued to be charged.
However, the defense appealed and Chamber A of the Chamber considered the prosecutor’s opinion not binding, and ordered Bustos Fierro to close the case only in the case of Aramayo (since the other defendants are still under investigation), thus approving the case. reparation agreement, with extinction of the criminal action and dismissal. Casas Nóblega did not appeal.
The attorney general before the Chamber, Alberto Lozada, did not appear at the oral hearing, but later filed a complaint with the Federal Chamber of Criminal Cassation once morest the decision of the Cordovan chambers to deny the cassation once morest the revocation of the rejection of the request approval of the agreement.
Now, it will be the largest federal criminal court in the country that resolves the complaint.
administrative investigation
In the administrative investigation ordered by the Federal Chamber of Córdoba, the examiner understood that the materiality of the act perpetrated by Aramayo had been “demonstrated,” resulting in a 30-day suspension, with the warning that, if they once more engage in conduct similar, would be terminated.
The president of the high body, Graciela Montesi, opined that it should be suspended for 30 days, coinciding with what was sustained by the suspect (the report was not binding).
In turn, the member Ignacio María Vélez Funes opined that there was disciplinary responsibility of the employee for the “serious misconduct incurred and even with criminal responsibility”, but he disagreed with the sanction, stating that there was no “proportionality and reasonableness regarding the accredited misconduct, proven and admitted” by Aramayo Sánchez.
It did not coincide with the extenuating circumstances put forward by the defendant regarding the fact that the defendant had been an employee for 12 years, without sanctions and with a positive work performance and social treatment.
“The importance of the event that occurred in public opinion must not be forgotten, as well as the indignation expressed in writing by the co-workers of the accused employee, who repeatedly asked Judge No. 3 that they did not want to work with Aramayo for the serious administrative and illegal criminal misconduct of theft incurred,” said Vélez Funes, who then voted to throw him out.
For his part, his peer Eduardo Ávalos ruled for the 30-day disciplinary sanction. Chambermaid Liliana Navarro highlighted the spontaneous presentation of the employee and the testimonials regarding the excellent work quality of Aramayo.
“Beyond the fact that the events that occurred do not correspond to the conduct of a judicial agent, it should be appreciated that he has the last position in the ranks, he has no faults, he has no previous sanction, nor warnings, nor calls for attention, and this magistrate on no other occasion in which he has intervened has he requested dismissal for similar behaviors, ”he said.
He then voted to give “a young agent a chance”, also taking into account the agreement between the parties that was approved by Bustos Fierro.
Finally, the chambermaid Abel Sánchez Torres, following highlighting the arguments of the summary regarding the lack of disciplinary record of Aramayo, added to his apologies and the repair of the damage, voted for the suspension, for which, by majority, the Chamber applied the measure .
However, having fulfilled it preventively, the suspension has already been completed.
