Versión Español
EspañolA hotel chain in Argentina under investigation for money laundering wouldn’t make international headlines if it wasn’t for the alleged culprits: the friends, relatives, and close associates of former President Cristina Kirchrner.
Coincidentally, they have all become millionaires during Kirchner’s rule (2007-2015).
On February 26, local daily Clarín revealed the supposed net worth of those involved in the Hotesur case, the most “sensitive and worrying” corruption scandal involving Kirchner.
The newspaper assures that seven very rich individuals are under the eye of Argentina’s justice:
The richest of those under investigation in the Hotesur case is a longtime business partner of the Kirchner family, Lázaro Báez. He is worth around AR$66 million (US$4.1 million). As a manager of the Alto Calafate hotel, owned by Hotesur, he increased his net worth 12 times (…) According to [daily] La Nación, he secured AR$14 million (US$880,000) in profits for Cristina [Kirchner] by renting hotel rooms.
Clarín claims that next in line is the former president herself, who “declared assets for AR$64 million [US$4.019 million] before leaving the presidential palace.
In 12 years, the president’s net worth increased 843.25 percent. She left power with 26 properties, deposit certificates for AR$31 million [US$1.9 million], and with a AR$12.640 [US$800] debt with Lázaro Báez, which results almost symbolic [of her administration’s finances].
The third in the Hotesur’s millionaires’ “ranking” is the recently elected congressman Máximo Kirchner:
Cristina’s son, one of Hotesur’s main shareholders, virtually tripled his net worth in three years. When his father [former president Néstor Kirchner] died in October 2010, he inherited assets valued at AR$18.780.698,53 [US$1.11 million]. From then on, his fortune’s rise was constant (…) in just 12 months, his net worth increased 44.61 percent.
Next in line is Lázaro Báez’s son, Martín. According to Clarín, his fortune grew 1,300 percent over five years: from AR$1.3 million [US$81,600] to AR$29 million [US$1.82 million].
In 2013, Martín Báez declared having investments abroad to the tune of AR$10.660.000 [US$670,000] and his net worth climbed to AR$23.293.817,14 [US$1.46 million].
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The Argentinean newspaper also mentions Osvaldo Sanfelice, Máximo Kirchner’s business partner, whose net work allegedly ballooned 814 percent in five years.
Finally, Romina Mercado, president Kirchner’s nephew, increased her fortune from AR$ 300.000 [US$18,840] to AR$2.5 million [US$157,000], a 663-percent increase over five years.
Source: Clarín.
