Santa Fe: an illegal gambling czar said he financed a K senator's campaign

Businessman Leonardo Peiti, a key figure in the illegal gambling business in Santa Fe, testified as a witness in the trial against former prosecutor Patricio Serjal. There, he stated that he handed over 200,000 dollars to provincial senator Peronista Armando Traferri as a contribution to his political campaign.

The accusation strikes directly at the Santa Fe Justicialist Party, as it exposes the alleged links between an official legislator and the clandestine gambling structure operating in the province.

The web of judicial and political corruption

Peiti also stated that he paid bribes to employees of the Public Prosecutor's Office to guarantee protection. Among the beneficiaries he mentioned prosecutors such as Gustavo Ponce Asahad, already convicted, and Patricio Serjal, former chief prosecutor of Rosario, who was arrested in 2020 for leading a network that protected illegal gambling businessmen in exchange for monthly payments ranging from 4,000 to 5,000 dollars.

Serjal faces charges of passive bribery, breach of official duties, transmission of confidential data, omission of prosecution, and embezzlement.

Peiti, the repentant businessman

In previous cases, Peiti had already declared himself repentant and admitted to leading an organization that managed illegal gambling and extorted businessmen, merchants, and union leaders. Within that operation, serious incidents were investigated, such as the attack on the Rosario casino and the murder of a gambler in the smoking area.

El empresario Leonardo Peiti, figura clave del negocio del juego ilegal en Santa Fe

His statement in this new trial not only implicates former judicial officials, but now puts the PJ senator Armando Traferri directly in the spotlight, deepening the political scandal and the crisis of institutional credibility in Santa Fe.