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ARGENTINA | 19-09-2018 10:11

Former 'delivery boy' says CFK's alleged dirty cash hidden somewhere in Argentina

Leonardo Fariña, a name which has long been synonymous with alleged corruption during the Kirchner governments, made a series of television appearances this week.

Leonardo Fariña, a name which has long been synonymous with alleged corruption during the Kirchner governments, made a series of television appearances this week.

Fariña is a confessed former "delivery boy" of money tied to corruption schemes allegedly orchestrated by ex Kirchner government officials. He was the first person to secure a plea bargain in the longest-running corruption case against Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and her associates, the so-called "K-money route" case.

On Tuesday, Fariña appeared voluntarily at the Comodoro Py courthouse in Retiro to offer information in the latest case, the so-called "notebooks" affair.

"I laundered US$77 million for Lázaro (Báez). When I spoke about US$60 million he said: 'There's US$17 million missing'", Fariña told the prime-time Animales Sueltos programme on Tuesday. Fariña had appeared on Mirta Legrand's weekend lunch programme.

In reference to the Kirchner family's alleged former frontman Lázaro Báez, Fariña added: "Lázaro is a guy with US$250 million in properties. It's not fiction, that money exists", he added.

Fariña rejected the notion that investigators could find hoarded cash, claiming the people who manage the alleged dirty money "move it around and there are many far-off estancias". "The money has to be here (in Argentina)", he added.

Appearing to wanting to clear his name, Fariña took the opportunity to target members of the Kirchner family and former AFIP tax bureau chief Ricardo Echegaray.

"Cristina has much more (money) than" Lázaro Báez, Fariña claimed. "The very Máximo Kirchner was in charge of demanding money from businessmen", he added.

According to Fariña, "the AFIP was the main guarantor" of the schemes.

VICTIMISATION

Asked if he regretted his involvement in alleged corruption, Fariña said: "I didn't know how to handle it, I was overcome with ambition".

The former 'delivery boy' explained that "the subhuman conditions" of Ezeiza penitentiary were why he decided to seek a plea bargain in the corruption investigations that have piled up against former president Fernández de Kirchner and officials of her and her late husband's presidencies.

-TIMES/PERFIL

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