The Federal Chamber of Cassation rejected the appeal presented by the defense of the businessman Lázaro Báez and other defendants in the case known as “Money Route”, in which money laundering is being investigated. This decision confirmed the sentences of up to ten years in prison imposed on the defendantswho now have a last resort before the sentences become final.
Request for review of sentences it was presented before the Supreme Court, but the criminal court declared these extraordinary appeals “inadmissible”. Among the convicts are Lazarus Baez, Juan De Rasis, Claudio Bustos, Martin Eraso, Julio Mendoza, Cesar Fernandez, Fabian Rossi, Carlos Molinari, Eduardo Castro, Martin Baez, Walter Zanzot, Daniel Perez Gadin and Jorge Chueco.
The ruling ratifies the sentences imposed on all those involved, and upheld the sentence of ten years in prison for Lázaro Báez. In addition, the criterion on the modality of the crime of “laundering” for which they were convicted remained firm. During the trial, it was determined that the funds, approximately 65 million dollars, came from corruption in public works.
However, the Court of Cassation considered that the The “predicate offense” that generated the illegal money that was laundered was actually tax evasion. Previously, this same instance had reduced the sentences of the defendants, going from 12 to 10 years in prison in the case of Lázaro Báez.
The judges Gustavo Hornos, Javier Carbajo and Mariano Borinsky have closed the appeal route before the Supreme Court, leaving the defenses the possibility of appealing through a “direct appeal” or a “complaint” as the last step before the sentences are handed down. acquire the force of res judicata. In the process The sons of Báez and the financiers Leonardo Fariña and Federico Elaskar are also convicted..
With information from Argentine News