Argentina's Extortiongate: Right-wing journalist indicted
Argentine Federal Judge Alejo Ramos Padilla, who oversees a case of a state-sponsored extortion scheme involving millions in ransom payments and false testimony coerced against political opponents, issued indictments against journalist Daniel Santoro.
Santoro, 60, was indicted for extortion and coercion in connection with the wide-reaching case, which implicates Argentina's Federal Intelligence Agency (AFI) and President Mauricio Macri's hard-line Security Minister, Patricia Bullrich.
Santoro is alleged to have collaborated with indicted AFI agent Marcelo d'Alessio by writing hit pieces against those refusing to meet ransom payments and provide false testimony against Macri's political rivals.
The chief judicial affairs writer for the country's leading right-wing news daily Clarín, Santoro, the court found, "knew that d'Alessio carried out illegal intelligence, espionage, and criminal investigations - and used (the information) despite knowing of its illicit origin."
Audio, video, and WhatsApp messages and call logs show a close relationship between Santoro and d'Alessio - as well as with Bullrich and Federal Prosecutor Carlos Stornelli, another close Macri ally.
Stornelli was charged with espionage but has refused to testify and has been in contempt of court since March 27. Several other AFI agents and a district attorney, Juan Bidone, have also been charged.
Amid an imploding debt bubble, Macri is facing job disapproval of 70% and had relied on corruption allegations against rivals to boost his reelection chances this year.
Shakedown
Among the victims listed in the indictment were Gonzalo Brusa Dovat, who as a local manager for Venezuela's state-owned oil firm PdVSA was found to have been extorted by Santoro to give false testimony against the firm to Stornelli.
A raid on d'Alessio's home on February 13 uncovered CIA, U.S. Embassy and Israeli Defense Ministry documents, and evidence of operations against neighboring Uruguay and PdVSA - allegedly part of the Trump administration's push to freeze PdVSA's overseas assets.
Both U.S. Ambassador Edward Prado and AFI chief Gustavo Arribas, a longtime business partner of Macri's, deny involvement.
Another victim listed in the indictment was public contractor Mario Cifuentes, who testified to being coerced by Santoro after d'Alessio failed to obtain a $1.2 million bribe - part of an effort, Cifuentes testified, to force him to sell his oil field equipment supplier OPS.
Santoro wrote an unsubstantiated hit piece against Cifuentes on April 6, 2018 - one week after footage shows Cifuentes in d'Alessio's car, seen running red lights in a busy Buenos Aires avenue and illegally sporting a police siren.
Etchebest tapes
Extortiongate surfaced when, on February 8, 22 hours of incriminating tapes collected by farmer Pedro Etchebest, from whom d'Alessio sought a $300,000 ransom, were published by investigative journalist Horacio Verbitsky.
The tapes, made throughout January, show d'Alessio boasting that some $12 million in bribes had been coerced from victims since August 2018, that political opponents had been “framed,” and that Stornelli “managed” the enterprise.
Etchebest, 70, had his photo leaked to Clarín by government staff on February 19, and has reported receiving numerous threats. He now lives in Florida with his son.
At: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&tab=wT1&sl=auto&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pagina12.com.ar%2F210773-daniel-santoro-fue-procesado-por-coaccion-y-extorsion
The four extortioneers: Federal Judge Claudio Bonadío, Federal Prosecutor Carlos Stornelli, Argentine Federal Intelligence agent Marcelo d'Alessio, and Clarín writer Daniel Santoro.
Argentine courts have implicated Bonadío, charged Stornelli, and indicted d'Alessio and Santoro (plus several others) in connection with the Extortiongate case.
President Macri has close ties to both alleged principals in the extortion ring:
To Carlos Stornelli through the Boca Juniors football club (which Macri headed until entering politics);
and to Marcelo d'Alessio through d'Alessio's uncle (whom Macri appointed presidential notary public), and through d'Alessio's former law partner - who administers Macri's blind trust.
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These names are so loaded, what they have done is so vicious, any and every step forward toward justice is a miracle.
So many powerful people are involved, all connected to Macri who comes from a long line of successful villains and who has been a fiend for so many years, himself, wielding far more power than anyone so dirty ever should.
What news! My goodness. This may prompt more heavy drinking by Bullrich, the Security Minister!
Hope Mr. Etchebest, in South Florida now, with his son, was sure to surround himself with guards, as there are so many truly vicious right-wingers there who seem to have full run of the place, hand in hand with the powerful Cuban radical "exiles." The "exiles" have controlled Florida politics, and its entire slate of electors every single national election for years, so their power also affects U.S. natural citizens continually, and will until enough time passes, as in generations, as the older ones pass on, for moderates and progressives to finally be heard again.
All the names at stake, sandensea, potentially getting closer and closer to judgement day each dawn, it's so big one has to hope so hard they can't deflect where the investigations are going. Since it is a life or death struggle for these powerful people, the will move heaven and earth to thwart the process.
Thank you for sharing this new information, it's truly huge.
