Hierarch of the IM dismissed for controversial donation said that the request was from the FA

“I did not order it, two people from the Broad Front commission asked me to”Signorelli told the investigating lawyer Federico Benlian, according to the files to which he agreed The Observer.

The ex-hierarch submitted his resignation in February when the episode took public status. In the middle of this year, after the final report of the Summaries Unit, the IM Legal Department resolved that “it has been proven that it was a unilateral decision” by Signorelli, who by then had already stepped aside.

The then coordinator of the Secretary of Sports said in the administrative investigation that the request came from Gabriela Luna – who at that time was the reference of Organization in the Broad Front – and Flavia García, current head of the Finance Commission of the political force . Both leaders confirmed in their statements that the topic arose in a meeting on December 17, 2021 in the Centennial State, to coordinate the fundraising event planned for the campaign.

Signorelli recalled that García and Luna told him about the roadrunner that the Broad Front was putting together, and “asked for what idea he could contribute.”

“I only asked how many kilometers it was going to be, They always ask us for fences and beacons –which we always have– and then the issue came up that they asked me if we could donate backpacks. There never existed in the conversation t-shirts, hats, much less the colors that they were going to have or that they were to finance the party, they were specifically for that runner,” explained the former coordinator of the Sports Secretariat.

Asked by the instructor if he had consulted with any hierarchy, Signorelli confessed: “No, I did not consult, that was my mistake. I made the determination on my own.” The ex-hierarch pointed out that he only told an official of the Secretariat, who indicated for the investigation that The material finally donated was five sealed boxes with 200 backpacks each –a thousand in total– left over from a race that the Agricultural Market had organized that year..

Flavia García, from the FA Finance Committee, told the instructor that on December 17, “Signorelli mentioned that there were enough bags to throw away”; “We didn’t even know what they were, we assumed that since he came from the field of sports, those bags were also from that field and not from the mayor’s office. As he told us that they were for shooting and if it was something that could be used for the runner, we told him that we could take them. He never told us the origin of those bags or what they were made of. He never told us that they were from the Intendancy“, Held.

García recounted that some time later he called the former chief by phone to confirm if “the bags” were still available, and he confirmed. “We never went to speak with Signorelli in his capacity as head of an IM office, I did not even know that he held a position, but we were referred to him as a colleague specialized in sports issues. Even, as we went to the Centennial Stadium, I did not associate the Mayor at all, “said the accountant.

Archive, walls painted during the campaign

The FA finance manager said that, without knowing their origin, she picked up the materials in her car and took them to the Seregni Footprint. “The next day a person from the party calls me, a doorman, and tells me that there were some backpacks from the administration, to which I am surprised because at all times what was talked about were bags. So when we noticed that we began to find out where they came from. For us it was a surprise that they came from the mayor’s office, that they had logos of the mayor’s office,” he said.

“After they told me I went to see them and that was the first time I saw what it was about. For us it was a mistake, we didn’t ask for that and it didn’t have to be for us. We never thought of using or asking for something from the IM and less for a Yes walk-runner. It was bordering on the unimaginable that people ran with a backpack from the Administration, “he concluded.

Gabriela Luna, meanwhile, said that “they gave her Signorelli’s contact” for the runner “as a sports person but also a party partner.” “It was for this reason that I called him, and when we talked he told me to meet at the Centenario Stadium. Until then I was unaware that he had a hierarchical position in the IM. But when we went to the stadium we saw the Secretariat sign and there I associated his role with the mayor’s office,” he said.

Expand complaint

As a result of the content of the files, the white councilors Fabián Bravetti and Rafael Seijas –represented by the lawyer Andrés Ojeda– will expand the criminal complaint in the Prosecutor’s Office. “We were surprised that some statements of the administrative investigation did not coincide with the account of the mayor (Carolina Cosse) or the own (president of the Broad Front) Fernando Pereira,” said Bravetti.

The white mayor assured that the Frente Amplistas “knew where the backpacks came from, they signed documents at the Centenario Stadium and left them at the Broad Front headquarters.” “Cosse and Pereira lied,” Bravetti said. The president of the FA had told The Observer that the political force did not want any material from the administration.

The white councilors also questioned that the commune decided to archive the administrative investigation: “This decision strongly calls our attention, despite the fact that the instructor advises that there are apparently criminal facts, the IM makes the political decision to archive the case,” he declared. . The lawyer for the Summaries Unit had concluded that “the conduct verified by Signorelli could fall within the provisions of article 162 of the Penal Code (abuse of functions in cases not provided for by law). Without prejudice to which, it could be understood that the conduct lacks sufficient harm for criminal prosecution or that the alleged perpetrator’s deceit is not verified”.