The federal judge with electoral jurisdiction Alejo Ramos Padilla Saturday disapproved the final reports of resources and expenses of the electoral campaign that Cambiemos developed in Buenos Aires territory for the open, simultaneous and mandatory primaries (PASO) of 2017, when the district was governed by María Eugenia Vidal.
In a ruling to which Télam had access, the magistrate ordered “extract testimonies” from what was done in that file “and initiate criminal proceedings in order to investigate the possible commission of a crime.”
In addition, the judge sanctioned with fines the spaces that make up the Cambemos alliance such as the PRO, with $3,246,965; the UCR and the Civic Coalition, with $990,599 each; and the Progressive Democratic, Popular Conservative, Democratic, Union of the Democratic Center, Open Space for Development and Social Integration, Faith, Dialogue, and Social Movement for the Republic parties, which all received monetary sanctions of $34,395.
Justice investigates whether the then Vidal government registered hundreds of beneficiaries of social subsidies as alleged contributors to the electoral campaign that we change
This is a case in which the Justice investigates whether the then Vidal government registered hundreds of beneficiaries of social subsidies as alleged contributors to the electoral campaign that Cambiemos carried out in the province of Buenos Aires for the lists of candidates for National Deputies, headed by Graciela Ocaña, and the binomial of candidates for Senators made up of Esteban Bullrich and Gladys González.
The case was made known by a journalistic article published in 2018, in which it was revealed that some 205 low-income people who received social plans were listed as donors of campaign funds for the then ruling coalition.
These people – thousands were detected – were listed as members of the PRO who had made millionaire contributions through small donations of between $350 and $1,500.
In the ruling, Ramos Padilla affirmed that the body of accounting auditors of the National Electoral Chamber (CNE) determined that the information provided by Cambiemos on public revenue for that campaign “did not coincide” with that provided by the National Electoral Directorate.
209 people were detected who, despite having made considerable donations of money, received some plan or benefit from Anses
At the same time, the magistrate remarked that according to the expert reports, 95% of the private contributions were in cash and detailed that when the experts crossed data from the alleged donors with the National Electoral Registry, “the IDs did not correspond” .
“In addition, the magistrate stated that the audit carried out a cross-checking of data with the AFIP monotributistas base, in which a list of 179 contributors whose contributions exceeded 30% of their monthly billings was presented,” he added.
It was also found that 40 contributors “could be included in any of the prohibitions established by current regulations because there are elements that link them with concessionaires or service or public works contractors or suppliers of the Nation or the province; or because they exceed the established caps.
At the same time, 209 people were detected “who, despite having made considerable donations of money, received some plan or benefit from Anses” and the file showed that there were contributors who allegedly donated 20 thousand pesos, but received the Home Program (for the purchase of social bottles), or contributed 17 thousand pesos and received the Universal Child Allowance (AUH).
Due to the repercussions of the Vidal case, he replaced the then Legal and Technical Secretary of his government, María Fernanda Inza, who as treasurer of the PRO was in charge of managing the party’s accounts during the 2017 campaign.
The Electoral Justice also took into account that “many of the people declared in the report” of Cambiemos “reject having made the informed contribution.”
In addition to this, it was objected that the coalition has not reported expenses in advisory fees, “such as Mr. Jaime Durán Barba, who according to journalistic sources (…) charges between 300 and 400 thousand dollars per campaign.”
The CNE experts later questioned the lack of detail on propaganda on public roads, the internet and social networks.
In the ruling, Ramos Padilla recalled that the political alliance Cambiemos was asked to correct all these observations, after which that force presented new campaign reports.
According to the expert reports, the macrismo replaced or excluded some 1,500 contributors “without providing any justification” and rectified accountability
According to the judge, new complaints then appeared from people who denied having contributed to the campaign for this space, for which a new CNE expert was ordered, and based on these data a new opinion was issued “taking into account account the rectified version of the final reports” of the proselytizing activities.
According to the expert reports, the macrismo replaced or excluded some 1,500 contributors “without providing any justification” and rectified accountability, but “there is uncertainty in the information provided by the group” and verified that of 37 people cited, “only 15 confirmed the contribution” and the rest ignored it.
The accounting auditors concluded in their second work that “the information presented by the group is not reliable, for which the origin of the declared funds was not duly accredited.”
The audit carried out a cross-checking of data with the AFIP monotributistas database, in which a list of 179 contributors whose contributions exceeded 30% of their monthly billings was presented,” he added.
The rest of the observations – campaign operating expenses, payment to consultants and advertising – were not corrected, so the experts concluded that “significant observations remained in the final campaign reports, mainly in relation to the private income of natural persons , in which the origin of the funds was not duly accredited”.
Ramos Padilla took into account that the representative of the Public Prosecutor’s Office also recommended not approving JxC’s expense report and that in the case testimonies and complaints were collected from 98 people, 79 of whom denied having been taxpayers.
He rejected the rendering of expenses because Cambiemos “could not prove the origin and destination of the electoral campaign funds,” and asked that testimonies be extracted so that the case be criminally investigated.
Thus, the magistrate rejected the surrender of expenses because Cambiemos “could not prove the origin and destination of the funds of the electoral campaign”, and requested that testimonies be extracted so that the case be criminally investigated.
The so-called cause of the “trucho contributors” was one of the most resounding political scandals during the administration of former president Mauricio Macri y Vidal, who at that time, in addition to being governor, was the president of the PRO in Buenos Aires territory.
Although at first the then-governor tried to dodge the accusations and attribute them to Kirchnerist sectors, she later assumed the seriousness of the complaint and, due to the repercussions of the case, displaced the then Secretary of Legal and Technical Affairs of her government, María Fernanda Inza, who As treasurer of the PRO, she was in charge of managing the party’s accounts during the 2017 campaign.
