An appeals court on Friday confirmed an order to seize assets worth nearly US$500 million from former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and other individuals convicted in the ‘Vialidad’ corruption case.
The move is part of a court-led effort to recover public funds deemed to have been misappropriated by the veteran Peronist leader.
Fernandez de Kirchner, 73, began serving a six-year sentence under house arrest in June 2025 and has been barred from holding public office after being found guilty of fraudulent administration to the detriment of the state in the awarding of public works contracts.
The ‘Vialidad’ case covers the periods of Fernández de Kirchner’s presidency (2007–2015) as well as that of her husband, Néstor Kirchner (2003–2007), who died in 2010.
Fernández de Kirchner had appealed the part of the ruling ordering the seizure of assets, as did the other convicted parties.
However, a chamber of the Federal Criminal Cassation Court rejected that request and upheld the confiscation ordered in the original sentence, according to the ruling obtained on Friday by the AFP news agency.
The decision forms part of a broader process to enforce the repayment of sums established in the case, which have been updated over time and prompted the execution of assets belonging to those convicted.
The ruling – signed by judges Gustavo Hornos, Mariano Borinsky and Diego Barroetaveña – orders the advance of asset enforcement against Fernández de Kirchner, her children Máximo and Florencia, and other defendants in order to cover the amount the court says must be returned to the state.
The decision makes final the order to confiscate one of the ex-president’s properties in the southern province of Santa Cruz, along with around 20 assets linked to her and her children, many of which were transferred to them in 2016. It also confirms the seizure of more than 80 properties tied to allied businessman Lázaro Báez and his companies.
The defence strategy had sought to protect the assets on the grounds that their connection to the offence had not been “duly established” – in other words, that it had not been proven they were acquired using illicit funds.
Lawyers also argued that several of the assets attributed to Máximo and Florencia Kirchner had been inherited from their father or were acquired prior to the period under investigation.
“This ruling raises serious legal concerns for me,” Gregorio Dalbón, one of Fernández de Kirchner’s lawyers, told AFP, adding that “the defence will appeal to the Supreme Court.”
The Cassation court “has ordered the seizure of assets inherited from Néstor Kirchner, a person who died before the trial and was never convicted. It has extended criminal effects to Máximo and Florencia Kirchner through that inheritance route. It has included properties with no proven direct traceability to the offence,” the lawyer argued.
Under the ruling, the seized assets will fall under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, which will oversee their administration and potential sale.
The Vialidad case found that public works contracts in Santa Cruz were systematically awarded to Báez, often with inflated prices and projects left incomplete or poorly executed, forming the basis of the corruption scheme cited by prosecutors.
Fernández de Kirchner is also facing another corruption trial related to the 2000s, in which she is accused of being part of a bribery and kickbacks scheme involving politicians and business figures tied to public works contracts.
According to the prosecution in that case – which involves a further 85 defendants and could extend beyond 2026 – Kirchner was “the primary beneficiary” of a system that began during her husband’s Presidency between 2003 and 2007.
– TIMES/AFP/NA
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