The K money trail (; "K" stands for "Kirchnerism") was a 2013 journalistic investigation into political corruption in Argentina. It began with reports on the Periodismo para todos television program hosted by journalist Jorge Lanata. The investigation was named "the K money trail" to imply that former presidents Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner were involved. The investigation showed embezzlement had taken place and suggested the money trail involved Néstor Kirchner, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and an alleged partner, businessman Lázaro Báez. The journalists concluded that Báez diverted money intended for public infrastructure to tax havens. The television show led to an official investigation. In April 2016, Lázaro Baez was arrested for corruption charges and jailed in the Ezeiza Federal Prison Complex awaiting trial. In mid-2020 he was transferred to house arrest as the proceedings were put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, Báez was sentenced to 12 years in prison for money laundering. In June 2023, a separate case looking into possible wrongdoing by Cristina Kirchner was dismissed after the prosecution failed to produce evidence.
Development
Television
Periodismo para todos began its 2013 season on April 14. Jorge Lanata reported that according to the tax return Néstor Kirchner sent to the AFIP, the Argentine revenue-collection agency, he and wife Cristina Fernández de Kirchner had personal wealth of US$1.4 million when he became president in 2003. She was elected president four years later; when Néstor Kirchner died in 2010, their assets were US$14.1 million. Lanata said that there was also a large amount of undeclared money.
The first program included interviews with Leonardo Fariña and Federico Elaskar, who detailed methods used by Lázaro Báez to send €55 million to tax havens. Báez, a businessman from Santa Cruz Province, was a close friend of Néstor Kirchner. Fariña worked for Báez, and Elaskar headed SGI (a financial firm used for money laundering). Elaskar detailed operations at La Rosadita, a firm in the Madero Center building in Puerto Madero. La Rosadita channeled money from Santa Cruz to Uruguay and Uruguay to Switzerland, in €1.5-million increments via shell corporations. Elaskar revealed more than 50 financial firms used for similar transactions; the operation required collaboration by banks as well. Fabián Rossi, husband of actress Iliana Calabró, was accused of managing financial operations in Panama.
Fariña and Elaskar later recanted their statements. Fariña said on the TV program Intrusos en el espectáculo that he knew that he was being filmed, he lied to Lanata and he never carried bags of money. Elaskar said that he lied to harm Fariña. Gossip shows on state-sponsored TV channels called it the "Fariña-Rossi case", focusing on the impact on the television personalities, ignoring ties to Báez and Kirchner and downplaying the corruption charges. Rossi said that Fariña and Elaskar were deluded.
Eduardo Arnold, vice-governor of Santa Cruz during Néstor Kirchner's presidency, said on the TV program La cornisa that in 2001 Cristina Kirchner showed him a vault in her home in El Calafate for the family's savings; Arnold suspected that the vault, larger than a home safe, confirmed the alleged money laundering.
In later programs, Lanata presented more evidence for the allegations. The second episode focused on the relationship between Báez and the Kirchners. Lanata documented agreements between Báez and Néstor Kirchner authorizing a builder, Austral Construcciones (owned by Báez), to build apartments on land owned by Kirchner. These documents had already been sent to the courts by deputy Elisa Carrió, who alleged illegal collaboration by Báez, Kirchner and minister Julio de Vido. Lanata also detailed unusual growth in Báez's finances since the beginning of the Kirchner presidencies, and favoritism toward Austral Construcciones in the awarding of the majority of public contracts in the province. According to the Swiss bank Teegan, a shell corporation wholly owned by Lázaro Báez's son Martín, transferred $1.5 million . Jorge Harguindeguy, former Argentine ambassador to Panama, confirmed the Panamanian operations of La Rosadita. Travel records obtained by La Nación indicate that Fariña, Rossi, Martín Báez and Daniel Pérez Gadín (Báez's accountant) all visited Panama, often at the same time. Fariña flew from Uruguay to Panama on the official plane of Chaco Province, governed by Kirchner supporter Jorge Capitanich.
On April 28, Lanata detailed links between minister Julio de Vido, Kirchner and Báez. De Vido allegedly requested bribes for Báez. Estela Kank, former owner of Kank y Costilla, described collusion by De Vido and Báez to force her to sell her company to Báez. Sergio Acevedo, former governor of Santa Cruz, said that Kirchner demanded an increase of over 300% in Báez's monthly public-works budget. Acevedo made similar accusations against the Kirchners in 2009, saying that public works in the province were always performed by firms associated with Báez.
Lanata aired an interview with Miriam Quiroga, Néstor Kirchner's secretary, who described people moving full bags of money from the Casa Rosada and the Quinta de Olivos to El Calafate (Kirchner's hometown) with the Tango 01 presidential aircraft. When later, in 2015, Quiroga was questioned by Judge Luis Rodríguez she confessed that these were false allegations intended to promote a book on the subject co-authored with her husband.
In the 2014 Lanata's interview with Quiroga, she alleged Cristina Fernández de Kirchner was aware of the operations; although she could not confirm the existence of a vault at the Kirchners' house, what she overheard made her suspect that it was likely. Former prosecutor Andrés Vivanco said that Báez's wealth is actually Néstor Kirchner's. He described two other vaults in Río Gallegos: one belonging to Cristina Kirchner, the other to Báez. The May 12 program included an interview with Antonio Cañas, the Kirchners' architect, who described the existence and location of a safe in their house's architectural plan.
On May 19, Lanata made further accusations of money laundering against Néstor Kirchner, his son Máximo, Lázaro Báez and sports agent Miguel Ángel Pires involving the acquisition of soccer players (including Rubén Ramírez, Pablo Lugüercio, Marcos Cáceres, Nicolás Cabrera, Leandro González and Martín Wagner) for Racing Club de Avellaneda.
Elisa Carrió accused Báez of removing evidence from a vault at his house, and a witness who helped empty the vault had photos and bags. At a press conference at his house, Báez showed reporters a wine cellar at the location of the alleged vault. Carrió replied that the photos showed both the wine cellar and the vault, and the wine cellar shown by Báez was next to a freshly-painted wall. Lanata aired the photos, explaining how Báez could have emptied the vault and prepared the area for invited journalists.
A search and seizure took place at Madero Center several days after the first program. On June 16, Lanata aired security-camera tapes showing the removal of boxes, papers and file folders on April 12 at 14:20 (two days before the first program aired) and April 18 at 16:22 (hours before the search and seizure).
La Nación exposed a business connection between President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and Lázaro Báez: they co-owned an plot of land outside El Calafate. She bought a half-share in 2006 and in turn sold it to Báez in 2008. Báez built a road and a luxury hotel; he paid rent for one-third of the rooms (even if they were empty), channeling public money to the Kirchners. Several politicians criticized the conflict of interest; deputies Patricia Bullrich and Laura Alonso asked the anticorruption office to investigate the situation, and Elisa Carrió and Mariana Zuvic asked to add this information to ongoing investigations.
On August 18 Lanata said that according to official reports, Cristina Kirchner visited the Seychelles on January 21 and 22, although there was no record of presidential activities on those days. The islands were mentioned by Elaskar as a fiscal destination. Several months after her visit, Seychelles no longer met the criteria for tax havens. Lanata also said that Néstor Kirchner created a shell subsidiary of his Panamanian corporation in Ireland. Oscar Parrilli said that Cristina Kirchner's stay in Seychelles was 13 hours rather than two days, and criticized Lanata for blindly accepting official information. Parrilli called Lanata a hitman and Grupo Clarín a threat to democracy. In return, Lanata sued Parrilli for harassment. Lanata aired an interview with Venezuelan journalist Nella De Luca, who was at Kirchner's hotel and confirmed her presence. Horacio Quiroga, a former businessman associated with Báez, described links from Báez and Néstor Kirchner to Lanata and the magazine Noticias. Quiroga and Báez worked for the oil firms Epsur and Mishar, and were visited by an agent for Kirchner; his testimony was included in the court case.
In January 2019, information emerged about Patricia Bullrich, Minister of Security of Mauricio Macri's administration, paying ARS 200,000 to Fariña "for information that would implicate people linked to the Kirchner's management."
Judiciary
Several politicians petitioned the courts after the first program was aired. Deputy Elisa Carrió filed a case with judge Julián Ercolini, who was already investigating Lázaro Báez for conspiracy. Ercolini gave Carrió's case to a Kirchner supporter, judge Sebastián Casanello. Prosecutor Guillermo Marijuan began an investigation; attorney Alejandro Sánchez Kalbermatten filed a similar case against Lázaro Báez, his sons Martín Báez and Leandro Báez, Daniel Pérez Gadín and Fabián Rossi after Carrio's, but before her case was given to Casanello. The prosecutor was Miguel Ángel Osorio. Attorney Ricardo Monner Sans and deputies Manuel Garrido and Graciela Ocaña filed additional cases. Since the cases were similar, President of the Federal Chamber Martín Irurzun had to decide which judge would preside. Canicoba Corral rejected the case and sent it to Casanello, who sent it to the Federal Chamber; Casanello was finally confirmed as judge.
Canicoba Corral roled that although a hidden camera may be acceptable as proof in investigative journalism, it is inadmissible in court, adding that he had not analyzed the case and had no opinion. Argentine case law does not accept hidden cameras as proof of crime, since they constitute self-incrimination. However, they are admissible when witnesses have conflicting testimony; an unedited film may clarify which witness is more accurate.
Prosecutors Ramiro González and Carlos Gonella asked Casanello for an investigation of Fariña and Elaskar when he was confirmed as judge. Their initial request did not mention Lázaro Báez or the Kirchners, but was open to expansion. The prosecutors requested unedited copies of both films aired by Periodismo para todos and the later TV programs, where Fariña and Elaskar said that they had lied. Jorge Lanata gave his testimony to the prosecutor José María Campagnoli on April 22. Senator Mario Cimadevilla of the Radical Civic Union criticized Gils Carbó for the appointment of prosecutors, including Gonella, without Senate approval. Carbó streamlined the appointment system, and the charges against him were dropped ten days later. Guillermo Marijuan appealed this, saying that he had received death threats against his daughters and was receiving protection. Campagnoli mentioned that the AFIP, IGJ and Migrations refused to give him information.