Union leader Hugo Moyano on Tuesday lodged a criminal complaint against President Mauricio Macri for allegedly spying on him and members of the Moyano family.
Moyano's complaint includes accusations of influence peddling and embezzlement against the President, according to documents lodged with the courts by his lawyer Daniel Llermanos. Moyano is demanding 100 million pesos (US$ 2.3 million) in damages.
The case is in the hands of the Second Federal Tribunal of Lomas de Zamora in Buenos Aires province.
The complaint relates to a broader investigation into an alleged illegal espionage network, with deep roots in Argentina's Judiciary.
"I come to denounce the crimes of illegal intelligence..., influence peddling..., and embezzlement... on the part of the President of the Nation, Mauricio Macri, as the perpetrator of the mentioned crimes", the complaint reads according to a copy obtained by Perfil.com.
As the latest episode in the ongoing battle between Moyano and Macri, the complaint follows Avellaneda City judge Luis Carzoglio allegations that he received "an intimidatory visit by members of the AFI" intelligence agency while he was processing a complaint against Pablo Moyano, Hugo Moyano's son, who is the leader of the powerful Teamsters' Union.
At the time, Carzoglio rejected prosecutors' request that Moyano junior be detained under a preventative arrest warrant and claimed he was pressured by officials of the Buenos Aires provincial government of Maria Eugenia Vidal, a key Macri ally, to do so.
"On October 16, 2018, as is publicly known, the Criminal Trial Judge of Avellaneda, Luis Carzoglio, took... the decision to dismiss the request of Ajunct Prosecutor General Sebastián Scalera to detain my son Pablo. Immediately afterwards, the magistrate complained publicly of intimidation from officials of the AFI and the Prosecutor General's Office", Moyano's complaint added.
He alleges Macri worked in cahoots with "members of the Federal Intelligence Agency, the Security Ministry and journalists, in a criminal plan aimed at ruining my public image" including the alleged falsification of documents and the lodging of judicial orders amounting to "influence peddling".
The complaint is not the first of its kind against Macri. Lawmakers aligned to former president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Leopoldo Moreau and Rodolfo Tailhade, as well as Senator Marcelo Fuentes, also lodged criminal complaints against the head of state for allegedly spying on them.
Moyano is facing a number of legal battles including for alleged fraud and racketeering at the Independiente Football Club, and money laundering and embezzlement of funds belonging to the Teamsters' Union's healthcare fund.
-TIMES/PERFIL
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