Land worth $51 million adds to list of undisclosed assets belonging to Argentina's Macri

[sandensea]

Last edited Mon Aug 21, 2017, 03:40 PM - Edit history (1)

Documents obtained from the Buenos Aires Province Revenue Agency (ARBA) have uncovered real estate owned by Argentine President Mauricio Macri worth over ten times the value of assets he had declared in his legally required financial disclosure statements.

The land, 32.5 hectares (80 acres) in the Buenos Aires suburb of Bella Vista, has a tax valuation of 122 million pesos ($7 million); but its current market value is estimated at 900 million to one billion pesos ($51-56 million).

Macri had denied ownership of the property in a 2012 Perfil story, claiming at the time that he had "sold the land years ago to the Eidico company, which was responsible for the commercialization of said neighborhood." The neighborhood, the Buenos Aires Village gated community, comprises 250 residential lots averaging 915 m² (9,850 ft²); one of the few remaining unbuilt lots is currently on the market for $220,000.

The property adds to a lengthy list of undisclosed assets belonging to the Argentine president, the first of which emerged during last year's Panama Papers scandal. The ICIJ investigation revealed over 50 offshore shell companies worth at least $55 million in which he was either sole proprietor or controlled through a partnership or trust (typically with family members or relatives).

His family conglomerate, Socma, was recently found to be in partnership with the disgraced Brazilian public contractor Odebrecht in the Blackwood Group, an Antigua & Barbuda-registered consulting firm operating from the same bank branch that Odebrecht used to funnel over $1.6 billion in bribes to officials and influential individuals in 12 countries.

None had been declared in his annual financial disclosure statement, as required by Argentine law of all elected officials and candidates to public office.

Money laundering and tax evasion charges against Macri and his relatives languished in Argentina's criminal courts for over a year, and were remanded on August 3 to a civil court. "I'm glad it's over," Macri declared at the time.

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[Judi Lynn]

1. Is there anyone left in the judicial system who hasn't been bought, already?

Macri has taken the country into Twilight Zone territory, by now.

Slight mistake, not acknowledging the value of undisclosed assets. Could happen to any villain. That sounds exactly like how the Cuban oligarchs dealt with tax statements in Cuba before the country threw them out: they ALWAYS wildly undervalued their property for tax purposes, so when Cuba offered them the official value in compensation, they were out of luck. Refused to take it. Claimed they had been robbed.

Meanwhile, owners in Europe, Canada, etc. went ahead and settled decades ago with Cuba, while the US owners kept shrieking Cuba had "stollen" their property.

This information about Socma, being a partner to Odebrecht, and the Blackewood Group is new here, I believe. Very big, big big stash they've squirreled away for themselves.

How many times are we likely to hear of money laundering charges, and tax evasion charges being remanded to a civil court? Who knew that cdould even happen?

Sure hope Macri's streak of luck will crumble before his eyes, and our eyes. Sooner than later, much sooner.



Macri, reporting to work.

[sandensea]

2. "Every time they look for my supposed hidden assets," Cristina Kirchner said, "they find Macri's."

The judge that Macri has assigned to go after her, the "napkin judge" Claudio Bonadío, already declined jurisdiction over the case in April due to having to admit there were no irregularities in her own family's real estate investments (rental properties and a hotel).

The investigation - which has gone on for nearly two years now - has nevertheless resulted in her accounts (and her daughter's) being frozen and her tenants having their residences ransacked "just in case."

And now, as you may have heard, they're trying to steal the senate election. Hundreds of precincts have emerged in which "zero" votes appear for Mrs. Kirchner's United Citizens party in the official tally - despite having close to 100 in each precinct's summary (there are normally around 200 votes per precinct).

"This is why the (Macri) administration is so anxious to impose electronic voting," she noted. "Had there been electronic voting, we would have never discovered the fraud."