De Vido cleared, four convicted in long-delayed 'Sueños Compartidos' case

A court on Monday acquitted former Federal Planning Minister Julio de Vido in a high-profile corruption case involving the alleged diversion of public funds earmarked for social housing.

Four other defendants, including former officials and two brothers who managed the foundation at the centre of the case, were convicted of the offences accused.

Federal Oral Criminal Court No. 5 acquitted De Vido in the so-called ‘Sueños Compartidos’ case, while convicting former Kirchnerite officials José López and Abel Fatala and brothers Sergio Schoklender and Pablo Schoklender, all of whom received sentences of less than three years.

Former Federal Planning Ministry official Carlos Castellano, Fatala's former adviser Daniel Freidin and former Santiago del Estero provincial government officials Daniel Nasif and Karina Nasif were also acquitted.

The verdict was handed down by judges Adriana Palliotti, Daniel Obligado and Adrián Grünberg at the Comodoro Py federal courthouse in the Retiro neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, just one day before the criminal proceedings were due to expire under the statute of limitations period considered by prosecutors. 

The case dates back to 2011 and was committed to trial in 2019, but repeated procedural delays kept it from reaching court until March this year.

López, a former Public Works secretary, and Fatala, a former Public Works undersecretary, were sentenced to two years and nine months' suspended imprisonment and a lifetime ban on holding public office as co-perpetrators of fraudulent administration resulting in losses to the state.

Sergio and Pablo Schoklender, former legal representatives of the Madres de Plaza de Mayo Foundation, received suspended sentences of two years and eight months and two years and four months, respectively, as necessary participants in the offence.

The court imposed sentences lower than those sought by prosecutor Diego Velasco, who had requested six-year sentences for De Vido, López, Fatala and the Schoklender brothers and four years for the remaining defendants.

At the start of the hearing, the judges rejected defence arguments seeking to have the criminal proceedings declared void on the grounds that the reasonable time limit had been exceeded, that the statute of limitations had expired and that the prosecutors' closing arguments were invalid.

By a majority decision, the court later ordered the forfeiture of assets under precautionary seizure worth 206 million pesos, which it determined was the amount diverted from public funds earmarked for the construction of social housing. The sum will be adjusted when the ruling becomes final.

A hearing had been scheduled for November 13 at 5pm, at which the grounds for the convictions and acquittals will be read.

The trial over the ‘Sueños Compartidos’ case began last March, investigating the alleged diversion of more than 206 million pesos in public funds allocated by the national government to the Madres de Plaza de Mayo Foundation. 

The foundation was established by the mothers of people who disappeared during Argentina's 1976-1983 military dictatorship. 

Hebe de Bonafini, the historic head of the Madres de Plaza de Mayo, who died on November 20, 2022, had also been committed to trial in the case.

According to the indictment, state funds were diverted from its intended purpose and allegedly channelled to companies and personal assets linked to the Schoklender brothers and associates.

Between March 2008 and June 2011, the national government transferred 748 million pesos to the foundation for housing construction, of which 206.4 million pesos was identified as having been diverted from its intended purpose, according to the indictment. 

The money was intended for the construction of social housing, but the programme operated with serious irregularities between 2005 and 2011, including public works carried out at inflated prices and, in some cases, without a tender process.

– TIMES/NA/PERFIL