The Anti-Corruption Office (OA) is a deconcentrated body dependent on the Executive Branch of Argentina, which is headed by a secretary appointed by the President of the Nation.
The OA is in charge of ensuring the prevention and investigation of those behaviors that are considered included in the Inter-American Convention against Corruption, regulating its functions and powers in Decree 102/99, partially modified in Decree 226/2015 where the obligation to be a lawyer to head the Anti-Corruption Office was removed.[2][3][4].
History
Creation
It was officially created on December 10, 1999 by Law 25,233 for the inauguration of Fernando de la Rúa.[9].
It is responsible for ensuring the prevention and investigation of those behaviors that are considered included in the Inter-American Convention against Corruption, regulating its functions and powers in Decree 102/99.[2][3][4].
Governments of Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kichner (2003 - 2015)
From 2004 to 2009, Abel Fleitas Ortiz de Rozas was Administrative Control Prosecutor"[10] and then Julio Vitobello held the position,[11] December 2015.[12].
Its budget in 2010 was 15 million pesos with 7,563 cases opened in the year,[13] while in 2008 it had a budget of 6 million pesos less with 6,911 cases opened.[14].
Government of Mauricio Macri (2015 - 2019)
In December 2015, the Government of Mauricio Macri modified by decree the regulations of the Anti-Corruption Office to allow the PRO representative Laura Alonso to take over as head of the organization, despite the fact that she is not a lawyer nor did she meet the requirements of Argentine law. position.[17].
With the decree “Data Opening Plan” 117/16 of President Mauricio Macri, the organization published in 2016 on the National Public Data Portal[18].
Public ethics management
Introduction
The Anti-Corruption Office (OA) is a deconcentrated body dependent on the Executive Branch of Argentina, which is headed by a secretary appointed by the President of the Nation.
The OA is in charge of ensuring the prevention and investigation of those behaviors that are considered included in the Inter-American Convention against Corruption, regulating its functions and powers in Decree 102/99, partially modified in Decree 226/2015 where the obligation to be a lawyer to head the Anti-Corruption Office was removed.[2][3][4].
History
Creation
It was officially created on December 10, 1999 by Law 25,233 for the inauguration of Fernando de la Rúa.[9].
It is responsible for ensuring the prevention and investigation of those behaviors that are considered included in the Inter-American Convention against Corruption, regulating its functions and powers in Decree 102/99.[2][3][4].
Governments of Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kichner (2003 - 2015)
From 2004 to 2009, Abel Fleitas Ortiz de Rozas was Administrative Control Prosecutor"[10] and then Julio Vitobello held the position,[11] December 2015.[12].
Its budget in 2010 was 15 million pesos with 7,563 cases opened in the year,[13] while in 2008 it had a budget of 6 million pesos less with 6,911 cases opened.[14].
Government of Mauricio Macri (2015 - 2019)
In December 2015, the Government of Mauricio Macri modified by decree the regulations of the Anti-Corruption Office to allow the PRO representative Laura Alonso to take over as head of the organization, despite the fact that she is not a lawyer nor did she meet the requirements of Argentine law. position.[17].
In mid-2016, Alonso was denounced for "poor performance of her duties", "abuse of authority" and breach of public duties" for her actions in the Panama Papers.[19][20][21] The case was registered with number 3,781/2016.[22] In this regard, Laura Alonso defended Macri, arguing that establishing a company in a tax haven is not a crime in itself.[23].
In 2016, Chamber II of the Federal Chamber ordered that it be determined whether the Anti-Corruption Office (OA), headed by Alonso, chooses which cases it intervenes in and which ones it lets pass motivated by political or economic interests.[24] The justice system opened a case to determine whether Alonso carries out "selective persecution" from the Anti-Corruption Office.[22] Months later, another complaint was filed against the office and its owner for an alleged direction of the complaints he filed. in federal justice, against opponents of Mauricio Macri's government. According to the complaint of the leader Juan Grabois: "Alonso acts with manifest partiality. She is a militant official who is not fighting against corruption but persecuting political adversaries.[25] That same fiscal year Franco Picardi opened a criminal investigation where he requested all the cases where the Anti-Corruption Office acted for directing cases against opposition politicians and covering up alleged maneuvers by officials of the Cambiemos government.[26].
In mid-2016, she was denounced for filing a file against the then Minister of Energy, Juan José Aranguren, for irregularities in the purchase of gas from Chile.[27][28].
During Alonso's first year at the helm of the Office, more than 22,000 public officials, for various reasons, did not submit their sworn declaration forms in 2016.[29] The following year the Anti-Corruption Office gave officials more time to present their sworn declarations.[30] In 2017 it was known that the head of the office, Laura Alonso, increased her assets by 160% in a single year while she was at the head of the organization and She is third in the ranking of Government officials with the greatest asset growth.[31]In 2018, after the discovery of dozens of cases of nepotism in the National Cabinet and despite the incompatibilities regime of Law No. 25,188 (Public Ethics Law) being in force, Laura Alonso was criticized for not investigating. Days later, as head of the Anti-Corruption Office, she threatened a journalist from the newspaper Perfil that she would take action if the information was published that her sister is an employee in the General Secretariat of the Presidency.[32] Alonso stated that her sister took her CV to the Pensar Foundation, a private foundation linked to Macrismo. The official then called Perfil to warn that she was going to 'respond' with actions if the information was published.[33] Soledad Alonso, the official's sister, maintained her position in the structure of the General Secretariat of the Presidency, headed by Fernando De Andreis. Alonso's threatening attitude adds to the investigations carried out by the Buenos Aires newspaper Página 12 about a possible conflict of interest in her own area, since she hired a private communication consultant who in turn works for different organizations. of the Executive Branch that his office must control.[34]Since days before it was leaked that Alonso hired a consultant for the press services of the Anti-Corruption Office to a company linked to a former Macrista official, violating article 13 of the Public Ethics Law, he determined that “it is incompatible with the exercise of public function to direct, manage, represent, sponsor, advise, or, in any other way, provide services to whoever manages or has a concession or is a supplier of the. State”.[35]
In February 2017, a group of deputies criminally denounced the head of the Anti-Corruption Office for the agreement signed between the Government and the Argentine Post Office, where the Macri Group would forgive a debt to the State of around 70 billion pesos.[36][37] That same month the Anti-Corruption Office defended the use of the presidential helicopter by the first lady Juliana Awada for personal trips to Uruguay. The revelation was made known when the Uruguayan newspaper El País "El País (Uruguay)") revealed that Mauricio Macri sent the official helicopter to look for his wife Juliana Awada and his daughter Antonia who were returning from vacation in Punta del Este.[38][39].
In 2018, she was criminally denounced for an alleged “negotiation of impunity” with the Brazilian company Odebrecht, reported for paying bribes in Lava Jato. There were closed-door meetings with the executives of the Argentine subsidiary of Odebrecht, which were considered attempts to obtain in advance the confidential information that they could provide and in this way, control the damage that could be caused to the President's inner circle.[40].
In 2019, the Office under the management of former PRO deputy Laura Alonso was sentenced to deliver within 15 days all the information and documentation that it had been hiding from the General Auditor's Office of the Nation (AGN) for a year, which is trying to analyze its performance as it does with the rest of the public organizations.[41].
In 2020, Mauricio Macri and several of his officials, including Laura Alonso, Guido Sandleris and Javier González Fraga, were criminally denounced for "defrauding the State" in the Vicentín case. The case began when it was discovered that during Macri's administration, Banco Nación granted irregular loans for 18,000 million pesos to the Vicentin cereal company, which had been the main contributor to the Cambiemos campaign.[42][43].
In 2019, Gabriela Michetti and Laura Alonso were denounced for influence peddling following Michetti's audios that were made public, revealing that the vice president interceded with the then Macrista head of the Anti-Corruption Office to help one of her collaborators, Guillermo Pino, accused of irregularities in ANSES for diverting funds of 118 million pesos. In the audios, Michetti asked the head of the Anti-Corruption Office, Laura Alonso, to disassociate herself from an investigation by that organization "Hello Lau, I thank you for having given the meeting to my friend. His name is Guillermo Pino, he is one of those who is involved in the ANSES complaint regarding the communications issue... it is our style. [44]In another audio Michetti expressed "Laura, I need you to meet with a friend of mine, who is working with me too"[45].
Bills and decrees promoted by the OA
Contenido
La Oficina Anticorrupción elaboró una serie de proyectos de ley y de decretos destinados a promover la ética pública y la transparencia. Algunos de ellos son:[18].
Government of Alberto Fernández (2019 - 2023)
On December 16, 2019, the Government of Alberto Fernández appointed prosecutor Félix Pablo Crous as head of the OA), who resigned on December 31, 2022 and was replaced by lawyer Verónica María Gómez, as of March 14, 2023.
[58] ↑ Infobae (12 de septiembre de 2016). «Presión de la Oficina Anticorrupción para que Aranguren venda sus acciones de Shell». Consultado el 26 de septiembre de 2016. • «Presión para que Aranguren venda sus acciones en Shell». 12 de septiembre de 2016. Consultado el 26 de septiembre de 2016. • Página/12 (13 de septiembre de 2016). «Un conflicto que quedó expuesto». Consultado el 26 de septiembre de 2016.: https://www.infobae.com/politica/2016/09/12/presion-de-la-oficina-anticorrupcion-para-que-aranguren-venda-sus-acciones-de-shell/
[59] ↑ «Camaño cargó contra Caputo y Aranguren». Diario Página/12. 7 de noviembre de 2017.
With the decree “Data Opening Plan” 117/16 of President Mauricio Macri, the organization published in 2016 on the National Public Data Portal[18].
In mid-2016, Alonso was denounced for "poor performance of her duties", "abuse of authority" and breach of public duties" for her actions in the Panama Papers.[19][20][21] The case was registered with number 3,781/2016.[22] In this regard, Laura Alonso defended Macri, arguing that establishing a company in a tax haven is not a crime in itself.[23].
In 2016, Chamber II of the Federal Chamber ordered that it be determined whether the Anti-Corruption Office (OA), headed by Alonso, chooses which cases it intervenes in and which ones it lets pass motivated by political or economic interests.[24] The justice system opened a case to determine whether Alonso carries out "selective persecution" from the Anti-Corruption Office.[22] Months later, another complaint was filed against the office and its owner for an alleged direction of the complaints he filed. in federal justice, against opponents of Mauricio Macri's government. According to the complaint of the leader Juan Grabois: "Alonso acts with manifest partiality. She is a militant official who is not fighting against corruption but persecuting political adversaries.[25] That same fiscal year Franco Picardi opened a criminal investigation where he requested all the cases where the Anti-Corruption Office acted for directing cases against opposition politicians and covering up alleged maneuvers by officials of the Cambiemos government.[26].
In mid-2016, she was denounced for filing a file against the then Minister of Energy, Juan José Aranguren, for irregularities in the purchase of gas from Chile.[27][28].
During Alonso's first year at the helm of the Office, more than 22,000 public officials, for various reasons, did not submit their sworn declaration forms in 2016.[29] The following year the Anti-Corruption Office gave officials more time to present their sworn declarations.[30] In 2017 it was known that the head of the office, Laura Alonso, increased her assets by 160% in a single year while she was at the head of the organization and She is third in the ranking of Government officials with the greatest asset growth.[31]In 2018, after the discovery of dozens of cases of nepotism in the National Cabinet and despite the incompatibilities regime of Law No. 25,188 (Public Ethics Law) being in force, Laura Alonso was criticized for not investigating. Days later, as head of the Anti-Corruption Office, she threatened a journalist from the newspaper Perfil that she would take action if the information was published that her sister is an employee in the General Secretariat of the Presidency.[32] Alonso stated that her sister took her CV to the Pensar Foundation, a private foundation linked to Macrismo. The official then called Perfil to warn that she was going to 'respond' with actions if the information was published.[33] Soledad Alonso, the official's sister, maintained her position in the structure of the General Secretariat of the Presidency, headed by Fernando De Andreis. Alonso's threatening attitude adds to the investigations carried out by the Buenos Aires newspaper Página 12 about a possible conflict of interest in her own area, since she hired a private communication consultant who in turn works for different organizations. of the Executive Branch that his office must control.[34]Since days before it was leaked that Alonso hired a consultant for the press services of the Anti-Corruption Office to a company linked to a former Macrista official, violating article 13 of the Public Ethics Law, he determined that “it is incompatible with the exercise of public function to direct, manage, represent, sponsor, advise, or, in any other way, provide services to whoever manages or has a concession or is a supplier of the. State”.[35]
In February 2017, a group of deputies criminally denounced the head of the Anti-Corruption Office for the agreement signed between the Government and the Argentine Post Office, where the Macri Group would forgive a debt to the State of around 70 billion pesos.[36][37] That same month the Anti-Corruption Office defended the use of the presidential helicopter by the first lady Juliana Awada for personal trips to Uruguay. The revelation was made known when the Uruguayan newspaper El País "El País (Uruguay)") revealed that Mauricio Macri sent the official helicopter to look for his wife Juliana Awada and his daughter Antonia who were returning from vacation in Punta del Este.[38][39].
In 2018, she was criminally denounced for an alleged “negotiation of impunity” with the Brazilian company Odebrecht, reported for paying bribes in Lava Jato. There were closed-door meetings with the executives of the Argentine subsidiary of Odebrecht, which were considered attempts to obtain in advance the confidential information that they could provide and in this way, control the damage that could be caused to the President's inner circle.[40].
In 2019, the Office under the management of former PRO deputy Laura Alonso was sentenced to deliver within 15 days all the information and documentation that it had been hiding from the General Auditor's Office of the Nation (AGN) for a year, which is trying to analyze its performance as it does with the rest of the public organizations.[41].
In 2020, Mauricio Macri and several of his officials, including Laura Alonso, Guido Sandleris and Javier González Fraga, were criminally denounced for "defrauding the State" in the Vicentín case. The case began when it was discovered that during Macri's administration, Banco Nación granted irregular loans for 18,000 million pesos to the Vicentin cereal company, which had been the main contributor to the Cambiemos campaign.[42][43].
In 2019, Gabriela Michetti and Laura Alonso were denounced for influence peddling following Michetti's audios that were made public, revealing that the vice president interceded with the then Macrista head of the Anti-Corruption Office to help one of her collaborators, Guillermo Pino, accused of irregularities in ANSES for diverting funds of 118 million pesos. In the audios, Michetti asked the head of the Anti-Corruption Office, Laura Alonso, to disassociate herself from an investigation by that organization "Hello Lau, I thank you for having given the meeting to my friend. His name is Guillermo Pino, he is one of those who is involved in the ANSES complaint regarding the communications issue... it is our style. [44]In another audio Michetti expressed "Laura, I need you to meet with a friend of mine, who is working with me too"[45].
Bills and decrees promoted by the OA
Contenido
La Oficina Anticorrupción elaboró una serie de proyectos de ley y de decretos destinados a promover la ética pública y la transparencia. Algunos de ellos son:[18].
Government of Alberto Fernández (2019 - 2023)
On December 16, 2019, the Government of Alberto Fernández appointed prosecutor Félix Pablo Crous as head of the OA), who resigned on December 31, 2022 and was replaced by lawyer Verónica María Gómez, as of March 14, 2023.
[58] ↑ Infobae (12 de septiembre de 2016). «Presión de la Oficina Anticorrupción para que Aranguren venda sus acciones de Shell». Consultado el 26 de septiembre de 2016. • «Presión para que Aranguren venda sus acciones en Shell». 12 de septiembre de 2016. Consultado el 26 de septiembre de 2016. • Página/12 (13 de septiembre de 2016). «Un conflicto que quedó expuesto». Consultado el 26 de septiembre de 2016.: https://www.infobae.com/politica/2016/09/12/presion-de-la-oficina-anticorrupcion-para-que-aranguren-venda-sus-acciones-de-shell/
[59] ↑ «Camaño cargó contra Caputo y Aranguren». Diario Página/12. 7 de noviembre de 2017.