Argentina’s former VP sentenced to nearly 6 years for corruption

Former Argentinian Vice President Amado Boudou attends his trial at the tribunals of Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Tuesday before he was found guilty and sentenced to nearly 6 years in prison. Photo by David Fernandez/EPA-EFE

Aug. 8 (UPI) — Former Argentinian Vice President Amado Boudou was found guilty on corruption charges Tuesday and sentenced to five years and 10 months in prison.

Boudou’s arrest was ordered immediately and he also was fined 90,000 Argentinian pesos — about $3,300.

The former vice president, who served during the administration of former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner between 2011 and 2015, maintained his innocence and said he was a victim of political persecution by current President Mauricio Macri.

“This trial has been strange from the beginning, in that the responsibility of proof was inverted. I have had to prove I didn’t know someone, prove I didn’t attend a meeting,” Boudou said, according to the Buenos Aires Times.

Prosecutors said Boudou lifted a bankruptcy declaration against Ciccone Calcografica, a money-printing company, in 2010, when he was Argentina’s economic minister. In exchange for lifting that declaration, Boudou received a piece of the company, prosecutors said.

The trial ends a four-year saga for Boudou, who was charged in June 2014, becoming the country’s first sitting vice president to face criminal charges.

But more convictions could be coming for former officials in the Fernandez administration in another corruption case. Last week, Argentinian newspaper La Nacion published a series of documents that allegedly detail bribes and payoffs to various officials, including Fernandez, who prosecutors plan to speak with this week.

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