Appeals Court Confirms Archive
On Friday, September 4, the Federal Chamber's Sala I, composed of judges Mariano Llorens and Pablo Bertuzzi, confirmed the dismissal of the case against former President Mauricio Macri, Economy Minister Luis Caputo, and other former officials regarding the IMF loan granted during the Cambiemos administration. The tribunal rejected the prosecutor's request to reopen the investigation, stating that after more than five years of inquiry, no crimes were proven.[S1]
The decision upheld the February ruling by federal judge María Eugenia Capuchetti, who had archived the case. The investigation began in 2019 following a complaint about alleged fraud related to the agreement with the international organization. The loan was initially set at US$50 billion in 2018 and later expanded to US$57.1 billion.[S1]
Prosecutor's Arguments Rejected
The prosecutor's office had called the archiving 'premature' and 'arbitrary,' arguing that incriminating evidence was omitted and that measures remained pending regarding the traceability of disbursements and links between officials and operators who benefited from capital outflows. However, the chamber judges considered that the investigation had gathered reports from the AGN, SIGEN, and the Central Bank, along with agreement documentation and testimonies, over more than five years.[S1]
The court noted that the prosecution failed to build a sufficiently supported criminal hypothesis. Regarding a SIGEN report estimating a patrimonial loss of US$29.618 billion, the chamber held that this deterioration alone did not demonstrate a deliberately ruinous disposal of funds or self-serving appropriation. The judges also emphasized that the agreement was managed 'in a context of recognized financial urgency' and that no intent to violate the law could be inferred.[S1]
Political Implications
The ruling came just one day after the definitive formation of Sala I, following the swearing-in of judges Pablo Bertuzzi and Pablo Yadarola. The case had political impact because it involved current officials, including ministers Luis Caputo and Federico Sturzenegger, and Central Bank president Santiago Bausili. Also investigated were Macri, former economy minister Nicolás Dujovne, and former Central Bank chief Guido Sandleris.[S1][S2]
The chamber stressed that the judiciary is not meant to review the success or failure of a government's economic decisions unless a crime is proven. The complaint had questioned formal aspects like the lack of a presidential decree, the absence of the chief of cabinet's involvement, and the role of the Ministry of Finance instead of the Ministry of Finance, among others, but these were deemed insufficient to constitute the alleged crimes.[S1]
