2016: the initial complaint.
- On April 29, 2016, a few months had passed since the government of Mauricio Macri had come to power and Javier Iguacel, who had been appointed head of the National Highway Administration, was preparing to denounce the outgoing president, Cristina Kirchner, for the existence of alleged irregularities in the framework of public works in Santa Cruz: from the alleged directing of the awards in favor of the companies of Lázaro Báez over other firms, to works with overprices and million-dollar redeterminations, delays in work and advance payments.
- The complaint was left in the hands of federal judge Julián Ercolini, who on September 12, 2016 called the accused for an investigation.
- A maxim that is often speculated on in the Judiciary is that following the calls for investigation, prosecution will almost certainly follow. In the case of the Roads case, the judge issued them on December 27, 2016 and reached Cristina herself, De Vido, López, Báez and defendants who came to trial such as Raúl Daruich and Mauricio Collareda, former heads of District 23 of National Highway; and Héctor Garro, Raúl Pavesi and Carlos Villafañe, former heads of the General Provincial Highway Administration (AGVP).
2017: Firm prosecutions
- Chamber I of the Buenos Aires Federal Chamber, then made up of judges Jorge Ballestero and Leopoldo Bruglia, confirmed the ruling in September and it was ratified in November by Cassation with the signatures of Gustavo Hornos and Mariano Borinsky.
2018: Elevation to trial
- Ercolini defined in March 2018 that the investigation had ended and that the case should be sent to trial. When referring to the defendants, he considered, for example, that Cristina “would have harmed the interests entrusted to her by violating her duty to faithfully administer and care for the assets of the national State, which were under her responsibility.”
2019: start of the oral process
- On May 21, 2019, the then senator from Unidad Ciudadana arrived with her lawyers Carlos Beraldi at the Amia Chamber of Comodoro Py to witness the start of the trial. Throughout the process, Cristina testified three times: on 12/2/19 she was investigated, on 09/23/2022 she presented in her own defense at the close of the pleadings period, and on 11/29/2022 she gave her “ last words” before the verdict.
- Cristina Kirchner had filed an appeal before the Supreme Court to declare the trial as res judicata, since in Santa Cruz the Justice had investigated the works awarded to Báez. She had also requested that a comprehensive expert report be carried out to see how the works were, since the trial was set up with studies, questioned by the defense, on only 5 of the 51 works that were awarded to the businessman. Everything was rejected on June 21 with votes from Horacio Rosatti, Carlos Rosenkrantz, Juan Carlos Maqueda and Ricardo Lorenzetti.
2022: the beginning of the allegations and the accusation
- On July 11, the last period of the trial began with a request for the acquittal of Cristina Kirchner by the Financial Information Unit (FIU).
- In mid-2022 it was the turn of the Prosecutor’s Office and its marathon hearings: there were nine days in which prosecutors Mola and Luciani denounced the “fiction of competition between companies so that Báez keeps the works”, the alleged lack of controls and that there had been an organization to commit crimes.
- On August 22, they requested the sentences: 12 years for Cristina Kirchner and 12 for Báez; 10 for De Vido and 10 for López. The lowest were for Garro (former president of AGVP) and for Carlos Kirchner (former Planning official) with three years suspended the first and two for fraudulent administration the second.
- Through her lawyer, on August 8, 2022, the vice-president filed a challenge once morest judge Giménez Uriburu and prosecutor Luciani for being part of a soccer club called Liverpool and who had played in the fifth Los Abrojos, Mauricio Macri. A few days later, she challenged Judge Gorini following learning that she had held two meetings with Patricia Bullrich when she was Minister of Security. Everything was rejected.
- On December 6, 2022, the Federal Oral Court 2 sentenced CFK to six years in prison and disqualified her for life from holding public office. She found her guilty of the crime of “fraudulent administration to the detriment of the public administration”, although she acquitted her on the charge of “illicit association”. It is the first time that a vice president of the Nation in office has been sentenced.
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