The investigation led by Gabriela Fossati on the president’s former head of security, Alejandro Astesiano, exceeds the passport process for Russian citizens using false entries. The prosecutor opened another investigation that could be framed in the crime of influence peddling, of which she gave examples at the court hearing on Friday. She according to her knew The Observerone of the Ministry of the Interior officials summoned to testify last Wednesday is Héctor Ferreira, deputy director of the National Police.
Faced with Fossati’s summons, Ferreira went to the prosecutor’s office together with another investigated police officer, but in the end they did not testify. This was recommended by his lawyer since the prosecutor did not allow them to access the investigation folder, government sources told The Observer.
From the government they understand that there is no involvement of the police officers in the case of influence peddling and they believe that it will be shown that there was no crime in any of the cases of requests for favors mentioned by the prosecutor.
The prosecutor said at a press conference that she requested information from the Ministry of the Interior to find out if the conduct of Ferreira and the other official, who also reports to the National Police Directorate, were legal.
At a hearing, prosecutor Fossati said this Friday that the individualized Interior Ministry officials had “one a hierarchical position and the other a very hierarchical position.” The Prosecutor’s Office has not yet been able to identify other alleged accomplices of Astesiano, for example, whom the former custodian refers to in messages as “the one from the National Directorate of Civil Identification.”
At Friday’s hearing, Fossati cited some messages in which Astesiano asked police officials for favors. In one of these he asked: “Motorcycles for the Cohami Complex soccer club, on Millán and Lecocq avenues” because we have “a stage at 6:00 p.m. and on the other side we have the Echador neighborhood (and the neighbors) who always come to break the balls”. “Can you get some cops or some motorcycles or something? just to be no more… to make an appearance… so they don’t come to fuck. I don’t want to screw you, I don’t want to compromise you.”
The prosecutor recalled that the former custodian also worked as private security, so she interpreted that he was asking the public forces to put themselves at the service of his particular activity.
He informs the same official at another time that the daughter of a colleague from Human Resources of the Presidency wanted to enter the Police School but did not have a subject saved. She had to enter in June but she was going to give the subject only in July, at that time she asked him to “hold” her place. According to the prosecutor, the official’s response was that the procedure had been carried out, which has not yet been verified.
The prosecutor’s questions
The Prosecutor’s Office asked the Ministry of the Interior three questions, which El Observador learned will be answered this Monday. The first refers to the use of patrol cars, that is, if it was appropriate for Astesiano to go to the hierarch and send cell phones to social events or shows, as in the case of the tablado.
The second refers to the security company that the prosecutor suspects was owned by Astesiano although it appears in the name of another person. Fossati asked precisely if the former custodian was listed as the owner of a security company.
As it turns out, Astesiano asked for a $150,000 fine to be forgiven for breaches of the regulations and asked the police chief to organize a meeting with the Director General of Business Control (Digefe). That fine was not forgiven, the sources said.
The last point refers to a request from Astesiano to save a place in the Police School for the daughter of a colleague who worked in the Executive Tower and had yet to take an exam. The prosecutor asked to know details of that proposal. The sources said that when the contest was held, the woman already had the matter saved.
In addition, Fossati tries to establish if there are public officials involved in the delivery of the passports and follows a line to investigate if there was money laundering to find out if Astesiano acquired goods or companies with money obtained from his criminal activity. So far, the prosecutor has targeted some apartments, a nightclub and the security company, among other assets.
