Macri, top officials, and tennis great Gaston Gaudio charged with fraud in Qatar offshore trust case
Argentine President Mauricio Macri, Vice President Gabriela Michetti, Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra, and numerous other Macri administration officials and associates were charged with governmental fraud today in a case stemming from a November 6 agreement signed with Qatar involving the creation of a new, offshore investment trust with no stated purpose.
The case, overseen by the Third Federal Criminal and Correctional Court presided by Judge Daniel Rafecas, also resulted in charges for Foreign Ministry official Horacio Reyser, the recently dismissed Social Security fund director Luis María Blaquier, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman José Ortíz Amaya (of Macri's "Let's Change" coalition), Macri business associate Diego Rosendi, and even former tennis pro Gastón Gaudio.
Gaudio, a vocal supporter of the right-wing Macri administration, is also acquainted with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, and is believed by prosecutors to have acted as a lobbyist and unofficial intermediary. He faces possible additional charges of influence peddling, given that he handled and shared confidential state information without having an official post himself.
Negotiations for this agreement began during Sheikh Al-Thani's state visit to Buenos Aires on July 28. The Argentine government ultimately entered into a then-secret agreement with Qatar on November 6 to create an offshore investment trust funded with $300 million from Argentina's social security fund (FGS) and $1 billion from the Qatari Investment Authority (QIA). The fund, to be administered through an unnamed third party, had no official purpose or mandate.
Following a criminal complaint filed on November 30 by Fernando Míguez of the Foundation for Peace and Climate Change, Prosecutor Paloma Ochoa requested that a formal investigation be opened to determine possible commission of crimes in the signing of the agreement with Qatar. A stay against any implementation of the agreement was furthermore requested until the case can be closed.
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