Argentina
Sergio Schoklender questioned the ruling after the conviction in the Sueños Compartidos case
The former attorney-in-fact of the Madres de Plaza de Mayo Foundation received a sentence of two years and nine months and rejected the allegations of embezzlement. He also sharply criticized the judicial system.
Sergio Schoklender spoke this Monday after being sentenced to two years and nine months in the Sueños Compartidos case and said that in the case “it is fully proven that no crime was committed,” according to Todo Noticias.
According to that outlet, the former attorney-in-fact of the Madres de Plaza de Mayo Foundation told the press in Comodoro Py that “not a p… penny was diverted” and said that the judges “did not dare after 15 years to acknowledge the nonsense they had done and that began with Oyarbide.” In that vein, he said it was a “symbolic sentence” and questioned that the matter now be left in the hands of higher courts.
Still according to Todo Noticias, Schoklender also went after the judicial branch by saying that Comodoro Py is “the palpable example of how rotten, destroyed and degraded the entire Argentine judicial system is.”
Asked about the acquittal of Julio De Vido, he replied: “How should I know why De Vido was acquitted,” the channel reported.
Schoklender also acknowledged that there are homes that were not completed, but said those works were planned after his departure from the foundation, according to Todo Noticias.
The case investigated the destination of funds sent between 2008 and 2011 by the government of Cristina Kirchner to the Madres de Plaza de Mayo Foundation for the construction of social housing. According to the case file, cited by Todo Noticias, nearly $900 million were transferred to the program during that period, and part of that money would have ended up in companies linked to the Schoklender brothers.
The outlet also recalled that federal prosecutor Diego Velasco and the Financial Information Unit had requested convictions for aggravated fraudulent administration against the public administration for nine defendants, with requests for six years in prison for Sergio and Pablo Schoklender, Julio De Vido, José López and Abel Fatala. The sentences ultimately handed down were lower than what the prosecution had requested, and the grounds for the ruling will be made public on November 13.
Sources
About this note. Written by El Notero with the assistance of artificial intelligence, based on what was published by the cited outlet. El Notero did not do any original reporting on this event.
