The trial for the Notebooks of Bribes began this Thursday at the Federal Oral Court No. 7, marking the start of the largest judicial corruption case in Argentine history. With 87 defendants, 626 witnesses, and figures representing both Kirchnerist political power and crony business sectors, the case promises to mark a turning point in the country's judicial history.
The investigation, which broke out in 2018 after the publication of the notebooks of driver Oscar Centeno, revealed a network of systematic bribes and kickbacks that allegedly operated between 2003 and 2015, during the governments of Néstor and Cristina Kirchner, to finance politics and enrich officials.
The main defendants
On the political side, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Julio De Vido, Roberto Baratta, Ricardo Jaime, Juan Pablo Schiavi, financier Ernesto Clarens, and Oscar Centeno himself, author of the eight notebooks where he recorded the money's route, stand out. All are accused of being part of an illicit association dedicated to collecting bribes from state contractor companies.
The list extends to Nelson Lazarte (Baratta's secretary), Claudio Uberti (former head of OCCOVI), José López (former Secretary of Public Works, remembered for the bags in the convent), José Olazagasti (De Vido's secretary), Rudy Ulloa (former driver of Néstor Kirchner and media businessman), Walter Fagyas, and Juan Manuel Abal Medina, who will also face trial after having attempted to be acquitted.
On the business side, some of the most powerful names in Argentine public works appear: Aldo Benito Roggio, Ángelo Calcaterra, Armando Loson, Enrique Menotti Pescarmona, and Juan Carlos de Goycoechea (Isolux). According to the accusation, these businessmen paid bribes to obtain contracts and state favors within a framework of structural corruption.
One of the most compromising testimonies was that of businessman Carlos Wagner, former president of the Argentine Chamber of Construction and head of ESUCO S.A., accused of having been the organizer of the illicit association, acting as a link between officials and companies.
The structure of the trial and the case numbers
The process has 87 defendants: 19 former officials, two drivers, and 65 businessmen. 626 witnesses will testify, including Hilda Horovitz (Centeno's ex-wife, who exposed the scheme in 2017), Miriam Quiroga (former presidential employee), and Jorge Bacigalupo, the driver who handed the notebooks to journalist Diego Cabot.
