Overview
- Argentina’s Economic Appeals Chamber let the Pilar estate investigation continue during the January court recess, rejecting a defense bid to pause it, while a jurisdiction dispute awaits a ruling from the Federal Chamber of San Martín.
- New records show a corporate AFA American Express card linked to Luciano Pantano paid utility bills at multiple addresses and covered TelePASE tolls; Judge Marcelo Aguinsky ordered the card’s preventive suspension and investigators cite 54 seized luxury vehicles.
- The estate was bought for USD 1.8 million by Real Central SRL (Pantano and Ana Lucía Conte) but officially appraised near USD 17 million, with evidence found on-site pointing to AFA ties as prosecutors probe alleged fraudulent administration as a predicate to laundering.
- Peru’s National Appeals Court on Jan. 7 denied Vladimir Cerrón’s bid to replace his detention with supervised release, stating more than 100 evidentiary elements remain intact as he campaigns as a registered candidate while in hiding.
- Interim prosecutor Tomás Gálvez dismantled special anti-corruption teams, removing José Domingo Pérez from the Susana Villarán trial, prompting a constitutional complaint filed by congresswoman Ruth Luque seeking Gálvez’s disqualification.