The Ministry of Environment sanctioned the Argentine Marcelo Balcedo with a fine of 9,000 resettable units –323 thousand dollars– for having 12 irregular breakwaters in his farm “El Gran Chaparral” in Playa Verde in the department of Maldonado.
The resolution was issued this Thursday, bears the signature of Minister Adrián Peña, and indicates that the National Water Directorate (Dinagua) confirmed the existence of “12 unregulated breakwaters that capture public waters and do not have current use rights”according to the document you accessed The Observer.
The Ministry ordered Balcedo to deposit the money in an Environment account in less than ten business days. “When making the deposit or transfer, it must be identified in the matter with the file number or name of the person to whom the payment corresponds,” says the text. In addition, he states that if he does not comply with the payment, Environment will be enabled to initiate the “corresponding legal actions” to make the payment effective.
Camilo dos Santos
Dinagua detected 12 irregular ponds in the farm
Balcedo is under house arrest in “El Gran Chaparral” for crimes of money laundering, smuggling and arms trafficking. The sentence was issued through an abbreviated process and will last until 2024. His wife Paola Fiege is also serving her sentence in the farm for assisting in washing.
The farm was bought in 2011. They can leave the house but at 10 at night they have to be back. The police can arrive randomly to check that they comply with the measure.
Once that sanction is fulfilled, the businessman will be extradited to Argentina, where he is investigated for diversion of funds belonging to the Union of Workers and Employees of Education and Minority (Soeme).
In turn, Balcedo denounced the Uruguayan State for US$22 million for having frustrated a deal with a US plane. The lawsuit responds to what happened with the Gulfstream G-IV aircraft – which Balcedo had under a contract for leasing–, which was seized by court order in January 2018, when it was about to take off from Carrasco Airport. The aircraft was returned to the owner company after being held for a year.
“What Balcedo had was a company that leased that plane and exploited it. It’s the same car leasing; it’s a use lease, with which, when you finish paying it, you have two options: either you keep it and spend it in your name or you can return it and do another lease”, as his lawyer Adriana Falco explained at the time to The Observer.
