Buenos Aires, Sep 18 (EFE).- Argentine former President Cristina Fernandez asserted Tuesday in a legal brief responding to corruption charges that she has had no part in illegal activity.
“Let them continue monitoring my movements and those of my family, clandestinely listening to my telephone conversations and dig up all of Argentine Patagonia, or wherever they want, and they’re never going to find anything to involve me because I will never take possession of any illicit money,” she said.
Fernandez, who has already faced legal procedures in six cases, on Tuesday was summoned and came to the federal courthouse in Buenos Aires to give a statement before Judge Sebastian Casanello regarding allegations of money laundering.
The accusation is that between 2010-2013, at least $60 million was laundered through an elaborate network of foreign bank accounts and shell companies.
“Not only do I know absolutely nothing about this alleged maneuver, but there exists no proof that I am linked to it,” Fernandez said in her lengthy written response.
The investigation centers on businessman Lazaro Baez – a close collaborator of Fernandez’s late husband and predecessor, Nestor Kirchner – who has been in preventive custody since 2016.
Kirchner awarded a number of public works contracts to Baez-owned companies during his time as governor of the southern province of Santa Cruz.
Fernandez, who in the brief once again accused the administration of her successor, Mauricio Macri, of pulling strings regarding her legal situation, claimed that she “never” had any undeclared bank accounts.
“All the assets of our family are and will continue to be in the Argentine Republic and they were always incorporated into our sworn tax declarations,” she said.
Fernandez noted that while neither she nor any of her family are mentioned in the Panama Papers, a report by investigative journalists on offshore financial machinations, the names of Macri and other members of his administration do appear in the document.