2023-05-21 02:00:00
Maximiliano Batista (44) was arrested on Monday, March 21 of last year at the Ezeiza airport. The then VP of Generation Zoe and right hand of Leonardo Cositortothe founder of the company, arrived from France to surrender to Justice. He knew that the investigating prosecutor of Villa María, Juliana Companys, had ordered his international capture. Since then, he has been housed in module MD1 of the Bouwer prison. From there he gave his version of what happened at the firm, in an exclusive interview with PROFILE CÓRDOBA.
Batista denied having managed illegal funds and also his participation in illegal businesses. He said that he took office as vice president due to the success of the Zoe Generation ventures, but despite the relevance of his position, he never had access to checking accounts or administrative management. And he did not hesitate to hold three people responsible for the disappearance of the money: Claudio Álvarez in relation to Córdoba, the lawyer and former judge Héctor Luis Yrimia (fugitive) and the accountant Miguel Echegaray.
The case investigates 350 scams for an amount close to US$ 120 million. The file that Companys is carrying out is the one that made the most progress among the numerous judicial venues investigating the Ponzi system that collapsed at the beginning of last year. Opportunely, the Office of the Prosecutor for Economic Crime and Money Laundering (Procelac) established that the flight of money would have occurred through its conversion into cryptocurrencies.
The case investigates 350 scams for an amount close to US$ 120 million
How did you become vice president of Generación ZOE?
–It happened in 2021, when the company was growing. Leonardo asks me for a matter of trust: he needed a person who would not claim anything from him tomorrow. I’ve known him for 25 years. I was with him at the cosmetics company. I was with the same perfume manufacturer for 19 years and never had a problem. In addition, everything that Leonardo Cositorto declared, was fulfilled. He announced that he was going to open a hamburger joint and opened three locations. The same thing happened with the broker: not only was their own broker set up, but at the moment it is working and is being carried out by one of the people who is accused but has not appeared and continues to manage it. They don’t put me as vice president to give orders.
–Where is all the money from the people who might not recover their investments?
–The people who managed the money have a lot of responsibility in that part. Today some are indicted and are in the Villa María jail. Another is on the run.
-Who is it regarding?
–Luis Yrimia (N.deR.: he is a former judge who is accused and a fugitive in this case). When he started with the legal part, he said that he was going to give the company a shield so that it would be safe. That’s why they set up all the societies.
-Why are you registered with the Afip as a holder of games of chance? What relationship does it have with the Just do Bet casino that operates in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Congreso?
They are legitimate businesses. It is a casino that was brought by a person from Colombia. Currently, it continues to operate but in the name of another person, as they did with all businesses. They are all moving, but they have changed society and are using third parties.
Leonardo asks me for a matter of trust: he needed a person who would not claim anything from him tomorrow. I’ve known him for 25 years.
– Do you not recognize the crimes that justice is imputing to you?
I am responsible for being vice president. Now, the courts say that there are scams but I do not recognize it because I was never in Córdoba, I have nothing signed in Córdoba. I only came to give three coaching talks. Those who ran the Córdoba administration were the Álvarezes and I had no contact with the Álvarez administration. The same in Buenos Aires: he did not manage the money. If you look at my economy, I still live in the same apartment that I have always lived, with the same car and a scooter since I was 33 years old. My mother and father continue to rent, my daughter too.
–How is the relationship with Cositorto?
The relationship is neither bad nor good. We are in two completely different pavilions. I think Leonardo’s company got out of hand because he trusted a lot of people who managed the business funds.
–Where is all the money from the people who might not recover their investments?
–The people who managed the money have a lot of responsibility in that part. Today some are indicted and are in the Villa María jail. Another is on the run.
-Who are you referring to specifically?
-The one who managed the accounts is Miguel Echegaray (N.deR.: He has been detained since last November 1). I did not have access to the company’s current accounts, I might not withdraw money because I was not authorized. That is why I tell you that I was a person who trusted a company, a business, and since I saw that it was working, I agreed to be vice president.
–When did you realize that everything was collapsing?
–In December 2021 everything was perfect. At the end of January, when I was in Spain, they began to tell me that there were problems.
-What happened?
–People made an investment of US$500 to earn US$700 or US$800, that is, the numbers that are often talked regarding are enlarged, because there was a percentage that was given when the person entered with the investment. Let’s not forget that these people had studies, traveled, with hotels, meals, stays and training, all paid for. There were many people to whom the money was returned. I have many acquaintances who not only received what they invested, but also earned money.
–But there are hundreds of victims who received nothing. That is why you are charged, along with the rest.
–The money is invested in a lot of businesses. The broker that was created is a business that is running today and is run by a person who is on the run at the moment, who is Luis Yrimia. It’s not that business never works. What happens is that, by putting the person who owns the company, Cositorto, in prison, it is difficult for businesses outside to continue operating. And many businesses that are operating today have changed their name and have other people who are doing it and are generating profitability with it.
–But precisely, they put him in prison because there were people who denounced that they might not recover the money they had invested.
-There was a bullfight because part of the media and the Córdoba Prosecutor’s Office went to a prison in a rather hasty manner. Only one person showed up because they were seven days late with their payment. Once Cositorto is arrested, a lot of other complaints begin to appear.
–People made an investment of US$500 to earn US$700 or US$800, that is, the numbers that are often talked regarding are inflated
–With Monday’s newspaper: what analysis do you do today?
–I find that, for example, in Córdoba those who were leading the company (N.deR.: Claudio Álvarez and his entourage) bought things in their name. I find out that they have dealerships, high-end cars and hectares in Villa Nueva. They have used the money for their personal gain. When Leonardo at one point begins to let people loose, I tell him “it seems to me that it is not the way” and he answers me “if you were the owner of the company we would be fused”. In many events he clearly said that the only owner of the company, the only one who managed, led and made decisions, was him.
– Are you in prison because of Cositorto?
–I am in prison because I am responsible for having signed as vice president.
In short, who are responsible for the debacle?
–Miguel Echegaray and Luis Yrimia.
What do you expect from Justice now?
–That the people who are responsible and who have kept the money, pay what they have to pay with the things they have bought and with the diversions of money they have made. It’s the only thing I hope for. I never touched anyone’s money.
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