Journalist testifies that Argentina's Macri demanded "1% of assets" from contributors
One of Argentina's most prominent investigative journalists, Hugo Alconada Mon, testified last week that during the 2015 campaign current Argentine President Mauricio Macri organized secret, illegal fundraising meetings in which he often demanded 1% of each contributor's business assets.
Alconada Mon's testimony was submitted to Judge Ernesto Kreplak of La Plata - whom Macri and his chief ally, Buenos Aires Province Governor María Eugenia Vidal, have been pressuring to remand the case to the National Electoral Commission (controlled by Macri).
As the likely 'Let's Change' nominee next year (in lieu of the increasingly unpopular Macri), Vidal is anxious to remove the case from Kreplak's court. The judge, however, has held fast.
Kreplak notes that the case isn't merely one of campaign finance violations - but involves identity theft, money laundering, and other potential charges.
La Plata, moreover, is the capital of Buenos Aires Province, in which Macri's right-wing 'Let's Change' coalition allegedly organized a massive money laundering and identity theft schemes in 2015 and 2017 involving over 40 million pesos ($4.2 million at the time) in illegal campaign donations in 2015 alone.
In three separate cases filed since June 19, the courts are now investigating some 500 fake contributors to Macri’s 2015 presidential campaign and 1,500 fake contributions to the 2017 midterm elections in Buenos Aires Province (which 'Let's Change' narrowly won).
Getting to the root
Alconada Mon, 44, writes for one of Argentina's leading news dailies, La Nación - a traditional voice of Argentine conservativism and until recently supportive of Macri.
His recent bestseller, The Root of All Evil, explained Macri's extortionary fundraising methods in uprecedented detail, including his 1% demands and the names of the firms and executives involved.
"And make it black (under the table)," Macri allegedly told contributors.
In all, the book alleged, his 2015 campaign raised 1.76 billion pesos ($180 million at the time) - or 11 times the figure reported to the National Electoral Commission.
At: https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.politicargentina.com%2Fnotas%2F201810%2F27303-escandalo-confirman-a-la-justicia-que-macri-pidio-el-1-de-su-patrimonio-a-empresarios-para-ser-presidente.html&edit-text=
Friendly fire: Investigative journalist Hugo Alconada Mon (right) and a smiling Macri.
Alconada Mon and the conservative La Nación have distanced themselves with the hard-right Macri since 2017, publishing numerous allegations of espionage as well as corruption.
