K money trail
The K money trail (Spanish: La ruta del dinero K; "K" stands for "Kirchnerism") was a 2013 journalistic investigation into political corruption in Argentina.
The first program included interviews with Leonardo Fariña and Federico Elaskar, who detailed methods used by Lázaro Báez to send €55 million to tax havens.
Fariña said on the TV program Intrusos en el espectáculo that he knew that he was being filmed, he lied to Lanata and he never carried bags of money.
[15] Gossip shows on state-sponsored TV channels called it the "Fariña-Rossi case", focusing on the impact on the television personalities, ignoring ties to Báez and Kirchner and downplaying the corruption charges.
[17] Eduardo Arnold, vice-governor of Santa Cruz during Néstor Kirchner's presidency, said on the TV program La cornisa that in 2001 Cristina Kirchner showed him a vault in her home in El Calafate for the family's savings; Arnold suspected that the vault, larger than a home safe, confirmed the alleged money laundering.
These documents had already been sent to the courts by deputy Elisa Carrió, who alleged illegal collaboration by Báez, Kirchner and minister Julio de Vido.
[19] Lanata also detailed unusual growth in Báez's finances since the beginning of the Kirchner presidencies, and favoritism toward Austral Construcciones in the awarding of the majority of public contracts in the province.
[20] According to the Swiss bank Teegan, a shell corporation wholly owned by Lázaro Báez's son Martín, transferred $1.5 million [where?].
[1] When later, in 2015, Quiroga was questioned by Judge Luis Rodríguez she confessed that these were false allegations intended to promote a book on the subject co-authored with her husband.
[30] The May 12 program included an interview with Antonio Cañas, the Kirchners' architect, who described the existence and location of a safe in their house's architectural plan.
[1][31][32] On May 19, Lanata made further accusations of money laundering against Néstor Kirchner, his son Máximo, Lázaro Báez and sports agent Miguel Ángel Pires involving the acquisition of soccer players (including Rubén Ramírez, Pablo Lugüercio, Marcos Cáceres, Nicolás Cabrera, Leandro González and Martín Wagner) for Racing Club de Avellaneda.
[38][39] La Nación exposed a business connection between President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and Lázaro Báez: they co-owned an 87 ha (210-acre) plot of land outside El Calafate.
Báez built a road[40] and a luxury hotel; he paid rent for one-third of the rooms (even if they were empty), channeling public money to the Kirchners.
[43] On August 18 Lanata said that according to official reports, Cristina Kirchner visited the Seychelles on January 21 and 22, although there was no record of presidential activities on those days.
[44][45] Oscar Parrilli said that Cristina Kirchner's stay in Seychelles was 13 hours rather than two days, and criticized Lanata for blindly accepting official information.
Quiroga and Báez worked for the oil firms Epsur and Mishar, and were visited by an agent for Kirchner;[50] his testimony was included in the court case.
[56] Canicoba Corral roled that although a hidden camera may be acceptable as proof in investigative journalism, it is inadmissible in court, adding that he had not analyzed the case and had no opinion.
The prosecutors requested unedited copies of both films aired by Periodismo para todos and the later TV programs, where Fariña and Elaskar said that they had lied.
[71] The judge closed the cause after concluding that there never existed at Lázaro Báez's farm house the vaults that Lanata's TV report denounced as the storage of money related to its own accusations.
[78] Several neighbours reported on April 17 that documentation was removed from the Madero Center (the alleged location of La Rosadita) over a several-hour period;[79] a search and seizure was conducted the following day.
[83] The son of Daniel Pérez Gadín (Báez's accountant) was identified in the security tapes as one of the men removing papers, boxes and file folders before the search and seizure;[84] Casanello opened a separate investigation.
[85] Still not charged, Báez sued Fariña and Elaskar for defamation[86] and subpoenaed Jorge Rial and Luis Ventura (hosts of Intrusos...) as witnesses.
[92] She testified that Kirchner instructed Rudy Ulloa and Cristobal López to buy media and how to manage public works, but did not remember details.
Quiroga was not asked about the bags of money she mentioned in Lanata's program because it concerned a different case; that testimony will be heard by judge Luis Rodríguez.
[98] Uruguayan President José Mujica said that such banking operations would not go unnoticed in his country, but acknowledged that money may have been smuggled;[99] the minister of defense revealed the existence of more than 900 unregulated airports.
[105] Le Matin and Tages-Anzeiger reported the ongoing Argentine controversy, and public opinion opposed illicit money in Swiss banks.
[109] Since Báez has at least six companies in Florida, Elisa Carrió informed local prosecutors and American legislator Carl Levin (a money-laundering expert) about the case.
[115] Public interest in the controversy resembled that in a telenovela; a large portion of the population awaited each new airing of Periodismo para todos, and its revelations were discussed during the week.
[123] Journalist Jorge Fernández Díaz said that soccer matches had not been scheduled so late the previous year, when Periodismo para todos had an average of 15 ratings points instead of 25.
[124] Although Lázaro Báez intended to run for governor of Santa Cruz province in 2015, as of April 2013 he engaged in no political activity in the Justicialist Party or the Front for Victory.
