Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09BUENOSAIRES532
2009-05-06 20:25:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Buenos Aires
Cable title:
ARGENTINA: "VALIJAGATE" JUDGE DENIES DEFENDANT'S
how-toVZCZCXYZ0006 OO RUEHWEB DE RUEHBU #0532 1262025 ZNR UUUUU ZZH O 062025Z MAY 09 FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3668 INFO RUCNMER/MERCOSUR COLLECTIVE RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 1951 RHMFIUU/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC RHMCSUU/FBI WASHINGTON DC
UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 000532
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV KCOR SNAR CJAN KFRD AR
SUBJECT: ARGENTINA: "VALIJAGATE" JUDGE DENIES DEFENDANT'S
REQUEST TO EXCLUDE U.S. EVIDENCE LINKED TO FRANKLIN DURAN
TRIAL
REF: (A) BUENOS AIRES 0069 (B) 08 BUENOS AIRES 1672
UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 000532
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV KCOR SNAR CJAN KFRD AR
SUBJECT: ARGENTINA: "VALIJAGATE" JUDGE DENIES DEFENDANT'S
REQUEST TO EXCLUDE U.S. EVIDENCE LINKED TO FRANKLIN DURAN
TRIAL
REF: (A) BUENOS AIRES 0069 (B) 08 BUENOS AIRES 1672
1. (SBU) Investigating Judge Daniel Petrone ruled May 5
against an appeal by lawyers for former Argentine government
official Claudio Uberti to dismiss evidence from the Miami
trial of Franklin Duran. The local investigation into the
infamous suitcase carried by Venezuelan-American Guido
Antonini-Wilson, seized by customs at Buenos Aires'
Aeroparque airport with USD 800,000 in undeclared cash on
August 4, 2007, was limited late last year to a misdemeanor
charge of either money-laundering or contraband, per reftel
B.
2. (SBU) According to the press, Uberti's lawyers filed a
motion against court translation and consideration of
recordings of Duran and other suspects in the Antonini-Wilson
case as well as court transcripts from the trial. Uberti's
lawyers reportedly argued that recordings made without the
consent of the accused or without a court order were not
admissible under Argentine law. Petrone, however, ruled that
since the recordings were considered admissible in a U.S.
court, he would not reject them without first studying them.
3. (SBU) Uberti, the former regulator of highway toll
concessions, is the only Argentine charged in the case. He
was fired soon after discovery of the suitcase when he was
implicated in authorizing Antonini-Wilson to board the
GOA-chartered flight from Caracas to Buenos Aires. Uberti,
who was a fundraiser for Kirchner campaigns in 2003, 2005,
and 2007, recently resurfaced in the news for having
"encouraged" many Argentine firms to participate in a
spurious trade fair. Some of the businessmen contacted by
Uberti subsequently complained that they were pressured to
pay excessive fees to set up stands in a "phantom fair" that
was unadvertised and unattended, and they alleged that they
believed the fees were destined for Kirchner campaign funds.
4. (SBU) Comment: It has been a long time since any
developments have been reported in Judge Petrone's
"investigation" of the Antonini-Wilson case, and the demure
coverage of this tentative procedural ruling is a far cry
from the breathless, sensationalist treatment this scandal
got when it first broke and derailed our bilateral relations
-- proving once again that Argentine scandals, like old
soldiers, don't die; they just fade away.
KELLY
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV KCOR SNAR CJAN KFRD AR
SUBJECT: ARGENTINA: "VALIJAGATE" JUDGE DENIES DEFENDANT'S
REQUEST TO EXCLUDE U.S. EVIDENCE LINKED TO FRANKLIN DURAN
TRIAL
REF: (A) BUENOS AIRES 0069 (B) 08 BUENOS AIRES 1672
1. (SBU) Investigating Judge Daniel Petrone ruled May 5
against an appeal by lawyers for former Argentine government
official Claudio Uberti to dismiss evidence from the Miami
trial of Franklin Duran. The local investigation into the
infamous suitcase carried by Venezuelan-American Guido
Antonini-Wilson, seized by customs at Buenos Aires'
Aeroparque airport with USD 800,000 in undeclared cash on
August 4, 2007, was limited late last year to a misdemeanor
charge of either money-laundering or contraband, per reftel
B.
2. (SBU) According to the press, Uberti's lawyers filed a
motion against court translation and consideration of
recordings of Duran and other suspects in the Antonini-Wilson
case as well as court transcripts from the trial. Uberti's
lawyers reportedly argued that recordings made without the
consent of the accused or without a court order were not
admissible under Argentine law. Petrone, however, ruled that
since the recordings were considered admissible in a U.S.
court, he would not reject them without first studying them.
3. (SBU) Uberti, the former regulator of highway toll
concessions, is the only Argentine charged in the case. He
was fired soon after discovery of the suitcase when he was
implicated in authorizing Antonini-Wilson to board the
GOA-chartered flight from Caracas to Buenos Aires. Uberti,
who was a fundraiser for Kirchner campaigns in 2003, 2005,
and 2007, recently resurfaced in the news for having
"encouraged" many Argentine firms to participate in a
spurious trade fair. Some of the businessmen contacted by
Uberti subsequently complained that they were pressured to
pay excessive fees to set up stands in a "phantom fair" that
was unadvertised and unattended, and they alleged that they
believed the fees were destined for Kirchner campaign funds.
4. (SBU) Comment: It has been a long time since any
developments have been reported in Judge Petrone's
"investigation" of the Antonini-Wilson case, and the demure
coverage of this tentative procedural ruling is a far cry
from the breathless, sensationalist treatment this scandal
got when it first broke and derailed our bilateral relations
-- proving once again that Argentine scandals, like old
soldiers, don't die; they just fade away.
KELLY