CORRUPTION-ARGENTINA: Many Crimes, Few Convictions

By Marcela Valente Reprint | | Print |

Marcela Valente

BUENOS AIRES, Dec 14 2005 (IPS) - Fraud, graft, money laundering. In the past 25 years, at least 750 legal cases involving corruption have been prosecuted in Argentina, but a mere three percent have ended in a conviction. In a majority of the cases the statute of limitations has run out, or is about to do so, due to flaws in the justice system, experts say.

“Argentina’s criminal justice system is not well-prepared to tackle economic crimes,” lawyer Pedro Biscay, director of the Centre for the Investigation and Prevention of Economic Crimes (CIPCE) and coordinator of the National Databank on Corruption and Crime, told IPS.

A CIPCE study estimates that the corruption offences that have been investigated have cost the country more than 10 billion dollars, which the non-governmental organisation (NGO) said could be recovered if effective laws were in place.

Meanwhile, due to a lack of funds, the databank is not available on the Internet, which means that interested parties seeking information must visit the CIPCE office or send an email inquiry.

The results of the study carried out by CIPCE in conjunction with the Institute of Comparative Studies in Penal and Social Sciences, the Centre of Public Policies for Socialism and other NGOs coincide with the findings of other reports released this year.

A study commissioned by the Argentine government and financed by the World Bank found that investigations of corruption offences in Argentina move five times slower than investigations of common crimes. The report, titled “Map of Corruption Risks”, says the delays are the result of flaws in the system.

The lawyers who defend those accused of corruption take full advantage of the system’s loopholes and failings to get charges thrown out or cases annulled, or to delay court action until the statute of limitations expires, said the study authors.

According to Biscay, the data compiled for the study demonstrated the “complete ineffectiveness” of the penal justice system. “It is clear that the strategies used have failed, and this is due to a number of causes: flaws in the judicial system, the laws, and the oversight bodies as well,” he said.

In his view, judges and prosecutors in Argentina are not adequately trained to understand increasingly complex financial manoeuvres, and the cases move forward at a snail’s pace. The study commissioned by the government found that a probe into irregular accounting practices took a year on average.

Biscay also said the judiciary was failing to fulfill its public oversight role. “Judges lack the independence required by this kind of investigation, and it has become routine to hear victims or the accused calling for impeachment of judicial officials,” he said.

The statistics gathered in the databank show that those implicated in offences like fraud against the State, bribery, money laundering, capital flight, and fraudulent bankruptcies include former presidents and cabinet ministers, bankers and members of the business community.

When legal action is brought and investigations into cases of corruption are launched, they briefly make the headlines and receive heavy coverage before fading into oblivion. The cases drag on and on, and the accused usually ends up free of prosecution – but not of suspicion. The result is the consolidation of the widespread view that impunity reigns.

Nor have Argentina’s laws proven to be an effective instrument in preventing and cracking down on graft and other forms of corruption, say experts.

Congress passed a law last year that reformed the penal code by establishing new conditions on the statute of limitations, in order to prevent trials from dragging on indefinitely. While the measure reduced the uncertainty surrounding many of the cases, it also generated suspicions.

Constitutional lawyer Daniel Sabsay told IPS that with respect to future cases, the new law established reasonable timeframes for prosecution. But, he added, it could end up letting former officials already implicated in high-profile corruption cases off the hook.

One of these is Senator Carlos Menem, who served as president from 1989 to 1999 and is facing prosecution for malicious omission of assets, falsification of public documents, fraud against the State, illicit enrichment, and arms smuggling, among other charges.

But the slow pace of the legal processes – a product of ineffectiveness and a lack of judicial independence, according to Biscay – could lead to the expiration of the statute of limitations for cases that have already been in court for more years than the accused would eventually be sentenced to, if convicted.

The lawyer said the State “cannot pursue a suspect forever,” which is why he believes the penal code reform was appropriate.

But given the judicial system’s performance in terms of truly comprehending economic crimes, the mistrust triggered by the new law on the statute of limitations is justified, he maintained.

In his view, there are other alternatives for making the system more effective and efficient. “In many Latin American countries, we see that those accused of corruption offences evade prosecution. But the possibility of recuperating the money that they pocketed is rarely discussed,” he complained.

Biscay pointed out that the Interamerican Convention against Corruption provides for measures for seizing the assets involved in this kind of crime and recommends that countries in the hemisphere assist each other in identifying, tracking down, freezing, and confiscating ill-gotten assets.

“There are instruments for confiscating drugs or contraband goods, for example, but they are piecemeal procedures. We should unify our criteria and also incorporate a local strategy for recovering the money,” he said.

Biscay said that even in cases in which the statute of limitations has run out, efforts to recover the stolen assets or funds could continue. For example, in the trial involving charges of malicious omission that Menem has been facing since 2002, the recuperation of the ill-gotten funds could move ahead even if the crime itself expires before the trial comes to an end.

In 2002, Menem revealed a Swiss bank account containing 650,000 dollars that he had not included in his personal financial disclosure statement. It later emerged that the former president had also failed to declare stocks, two apartments, two ultralight airplanes and two cars.

Malicious omission is punishable by two years in prison, which means that under the new law, the statute of limitations on the case has already expired. But the federal judge handling the case expanded the charges against Menem, which has kept the case alive.

A conviction on charges of malicious omission includes a lifelong ban on holding public office. If it had led to a guilty verdict, faster progress in the case would have kept Menem from assuming his seat in the Senate this month.