Argentina's current VP Cristina Fernández siphoned off taxpayers' money; jailed for corruption

Buenos Aires: A two-time president and current vice president of Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner was convicted of corruption charges in court here on Tuesday.

Kirchner has been handed over six years in prison and a lifetime ban from holding public office, reports said.

CFK (69), who identifies herself as a Peronist, is considered probably the most influential politician in Argentina in the past decade.

As per reports, a panel of three judges found her guilty of fraud during her tenure as president.

She has been charged for directing millions of dollars of the taxpayer money to a family friend.

She was also charged for heading an illicit organization that engineered bribes and overpricing in the roadwork projects of Patagonia, however, the court acquitted her on that.

CFK meanwhile denied doing anything wrong and is expected to file an appeal.

Reportedly, she has called the court a “firing squad” allegedly trying to stop her from running for the third term as president next year.

As of now, since she is the vice president and a senator, CFK is immune from incarceration and the ban from running for public office until her appeals are exhausted, which will probably take years, reports said.

“A president is not accountable for the execution and administration of the budget,” Kirchner said in a live video on social media after the ruling was made public.

“I do not legislate. I did not sanction budget laws. Those were the deputies and senators. I absolutely proved that
I do not have control over that.” She said.

She has also said that she might not contest the elections next year.

Prosecutors said Kirchner siphoned the money to a construction magnate Lázaro Báez during her tenure as president from 2007 to 2015. Several officials from her administration have also been convicted in separate corruption cases, said a report.

The court observed that during her tenure and that of her husband and predecessor, Néstor Kirchner, several companies owned by Báez were awarded dozens of government contracts to build road infrastructure in the Santa Cruz province, her home province from where she entered politics in the 1980s.

Prosecutor Diego Luciani called the case “one of the most extraordinary corruption schemes” in Argentine history.

Authorities say some 46 billion pesos were awarded to Baez for 51 road projects from 2003 to 2015, half of them never got completed.

It was also found in the investigation that Báez registered his company, Austral Construction, days before Néstor Kirchner sworn in as president in 2003.

Luciani said Lázaro Báez, became a construction businessman overnight.

The court also convicted Báez was convicted Tuesday and sentenced to six years, along with the former public works secretary José López.

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