The Government of Javier Milei dismissed the kirchnerista "ñoqui" Ricardo Echegaray from the Revenue and Customs Control Agency (ARCA), after the perpetual disqualification to hold public office imposed by the Justice for aggravated fraudulent administration to the detriment of the public administration was upheld.
The decision involved the definitive separation of the former kirchnerista official, who for many years was a "ñoqui" within the State.
The measure was adopted by Javier Milei's administration in compliance with the court order and communicated to the Office of Administrative Investigations (PIA), the agency specialized in investigating corruption and controlling integrity in the public sector, led by prosecutor Sergio Rodríguez.
Ricardo Echegaray.
According to the documentation, ARCA resolved to enforce the special perpetual disqualification and, consequently, to proceed with the exoneration of the former head of the Federal Administration of Public Revenues (AFIP).
The provision was signed in recent hours within the framework of an administrative file that followed Echegaray's situation within the revenue agency. In that context, the compliance with the judicial sentence weighing on the former official was formalized, and it was determined that his definitive expulsion from the state structure was warranted.
The Conviction of Echegaray
The grounds of the resolution recall that Echegaray was convicted by the Federal Oral Criminal Court No. 3 as criminally responsible for the crime of aggravated fraudulent administration to the detriment of the public administration.
The sentence included a penalty of four years and eight months in prison, in addition to the perpetual special disqualification to hold public office.
The subsequent judicial trajectory was also detailed in the provision. After the conviction, the former official's defense presented various appeals to overturn the ruling.
Ricardo Echegaray and Cristina Kirchner.
However, on May 12 of this year, Chamber I of the Federal Criminal Cassation Court declared the extraordinary federal appeal inadmissible, leaving the possibility of executing the sanction intact.
Echegaray played a central role during the corrupt governments of Cristina Kirchner, heading the AFIP from 2009 to 2015, in addition to having led the General Directorate of Customs and the National Office of Agricultural Commercial Control (ONCCA). During that period, he accumulated significant influence in tax policy and in the State's oversight mechanisms.
His judicial situation became complicated due to the case linked to Oil Combustibles, the company of the Indalo Group controlled by Cristóbal López and Fabián De Sousa. The investigation determined the existence of a scheme through which the company stopped transferring to the State the Fuel Transfer Tax (ITC) it collected from consumers.
In that context, the judges concluded that irregular payment plans were granted from the AFIP that allowed that mechanism to be sustained for years and avoided the collection of a multi-million dollar debt. The Federal Oral Court No. 3 considered Echegaray's participation in that maneuver to be proven and convicted him for aggravated fraudulent administration.
