Versión Español
EspañolWhen José López, the former Secretary of Public Works under the Kirchner government, hid several bags containing nearly USD $9 million (along with a stash of euros, Japanese yen, and an assault weapon) in an Argentinean convent, he allegedly received help from some of the convent’s nuns.
On Wednesday, July 13, federal attorney general Federico Delgado asked to subpoena Celia Inés Aparicio, a nun at the Our Lady of Fátima Convent in the General Rodríguez sector of greater Buenos Aires. She must declare whether or not she aided López in introducing the bags to the convent.
A video released by the Telefe news channel, which was taken from one of the convent’s security cameras, clearly shows Aparicio helping López.
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In the video, López leaves a weapon on the floor next to the door, from where the nuns received the bags.
Delgado asked the elderly nun who is in charge of the monastery, Mother Alba, to be put under medical exams in order to determine if she is capable of declaring before a court of justice.
Delgado also summoned Lopez’s wife, María Amalia Diaz, and two businessmen with whom he has had close contact. The Argentinean authorities have detected telephone conversations between María Amalia Diaz and Mother Alba, who heads the Our Lady of Fátima convent, on the very night in which López was caught leaving the bags full of money at the convent’s doorstep.
Delgado thinks that Lopez’s wife called Mother Alba to let her know that her husband was on his way to the convent, which allowed the nuns to open the doors without trouble and help sneak in López’s bags.
“The nuns not only monitored Lopez’s arrival to the convent; they also received him and helped him get the money into the house. They handled the situation quite calmly considering that there was a weapon only centimeters away from the door.”
The once powerful José Lopez has been detained since June in the same cell with Lázaro Báez, a businessman who was a close ally of the Kirchners. Báez received lucrative contracts from Lopez in his 12 years as Secretary of Public Works.
