The Italian-Argentine lawyer Nestor Marcelo Ramoslinked to the money laundering of the convicted construction businessman Lazarus Baezwas identified by the Maltese government in papers linked to a financial structure created to whiten backgrounds of former government officials Hugo Chavez and Italian politicians.
The documents arrived at the offices of the Central Court of Instruction number 3 of the National High Court, headed by Maria Tardon, in Spain. The magistrate follows the trail of the company Columbus One Properties, used to launder funds from Venezuelan corruption. The purpose of this structure was purchase of houses and hotels.
The content of that sensitive information detailed that Columbus would also have served as the laundering route for Italian groups, including a 59-year-old “Italian figurehead” called Aldo Ventolawhich would be linked to the creation of the fund Southern Cross Sicav Plc, located in Bergamo Italy. The companies linked to it are domiciled at Via Masone No. 5, the same where the Néstor Marcelo Ramos companies are located.
According to the investigation that expanded the Spanish media The confidentialVentola is linked to the corruption of the Italian Northern Leagueeyeing the purchase of luxury properties in Marbella and Madrid.
Who is Néstor Marcelo Ramos, linked to Lázaro Báez
the federal judge Sebastián Casanello prosecuted Ramos in August 2021 for being a co-author of money laundering in the case popularly known as “K Money Route”linked to Lázaro Báez, for a total of 55 million dollars.
In his defense, he maintained that he did not know the origin of his client’s funds, an explanation that did not reach the judges of Court Room II Mariano Llorens and Eduardo Farah.
For the magistrates, Ramos actively intervened “in the assembly of a legal, banking and financial structure in Argentina and abroad”, being Báez’s figurehead.
In the same year of Ramos’ prosecution, he was sentenced Lázaro Báez to 12 years in prison, like his children, accused of being the owners of the accounts opened in Switzerland that received the money. The judges who signed the sentence were Néstor Costabel, Gabriela López Iñiguez and Adriana Palliotti. However, the ball is now in the Cassation Chamber, which must review the ruling.
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What is the Northern League, accused of buying luxury properties with corruption
The clues that justice follows link Aldo Ventola with the Northern League, a right-wing party that used 49 million euros that it could not justify for electoral expenses. Due to the fact, its founder Umberto Bossi ended up resigning.
The report compiled by the Maltese authorities detailed that the executives of the Southern Cross Sicav Plc fund bought luxury properties through Columbus One Properties Hospitality SL. Ventola, for his part, would have contributed 14.5 million euros.
In light of the above information, the Authority considers that there is a high probability that the activity of Southern Cross Sicav Plc is not legitimate and could be used for criminal activities, including money laundering”, they say from Malta.
In 2018, the Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit arrested the holders of Columbus in Spain and advanced on 130 properties that they had bought operating for 3 years.
GI / ED
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