Senator Edgardo Kueider has formally requested temporary leave from the Upper House following his arrest in Paraguay in a letter addressed to Vice-President Victoria Villarruel.
This request follows the Entre Ríos politician’s arrest at the La Amistad (Friendship) international bridge linking Paraguay and Brazil at the Triple Frontier when the DNIT (Dirección Nacional de Ingresos Tributarios) Paraguayan tax authorities found an undeclared sum of over US$200,000 in his car, more than 600,000 pesos and four million guaranis.
Paraguayan authorities have indicted him for money-laundering and contraband of currency, leaving him currently under house arrest in the capital city of Asunción.
PROCLAC (Procuraduría de Criminalidad Económica y Lavado de Activos) money-laundering watchdogs have opened a preliminary investigation to collect evidence and determine if there is enough to mount formal criminal charges.
The possible indictments point to embezzlement, accusations which the Peronist senator has already faced at both federal and provincial level in the province of Entre Ríos, which he represents.
The Unión por la Patria caucus headed by José Mayans has presented a bill requesting the expulsion of Kueider, signed by Senators Mariano Recalde, Antonio Rodas, Eduardo ‘Wado’ de Pedro and Juliana Di Tullio.
“We of the Unión por la Patria caucus request that the president of the Senate Victoria Villarruel summon a special session on December 12 to remove Senator Edgardo Kueider as morally unfit,” affirms the communiqué delivered on December 6.
Investigation
Kueider is currently staying at a luxurious Asunción tower block after paying a bail of US$300,000 ruled by the court. This expensive benefit also extends to his 34-year-old secretary Iara Magdalena Guinsel Costa.
Each is lodged in separate apartments in the Tierra Alta building, guarded by Paraguayan police officers.
How long both will stay there is uncertain as the case is a work in progress. According to Paraguayan DNIT director Oscar Orué, “the procedure could stretch for 90 days.” Nevertheless, the prosecution has requested 120 days for the investigation.
While they can move freely around the Paraguayan capital, Kueider and Guinsel Costa will not be able to return to Argentina since the court is holding back their passports and prohibiting them from leaving the country. According to the prosecutor Alcides Giménez, “everything will depend on the documents which compromise them.”
Over and above the number of entries into the neighbouring country (six since March of which five were with his secretary who is also under investigation), the question arises whether Kueider was going anywhere else since he could enter Paraguay, Brazil or any neighbouring country or Mercosur with just his Argentine national identification document (DNI).
The Entre Ríos senator denies that money is his, with Guinsel Costa admitting to the ownership of this important sum. The claim, according to the prosecutor Giménez, “is that it was to do business with a company based in Paraguay.”
At the time of her arrest, the secretary – who hails from Concordia, Entre Ríos Province – had documentation identifying her as representing the firm Golden Sur.
Another point for court investigation is whether the secretary’s earnings are compatible with acquiring that sum or whether she received it from a third party or Kueider himself.
For now, not having declared the money to Customs places both in a complicated situation in terms of criminal law.
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