Argentina prosecutor urges investigation of former president for illegal enrichment News
Argentina prosecutor urges investigation of former president for illegal enrichment

[JURIST] An Argentinian federal prosecutor on Monday made a formal request to a judge to conduct an investigation of former president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner [BBC profile] and her son for illegal enrichment. Federal prosecutor Carlos Rivolo has been overseeing an ongoing investigation into a real estate company run by the former president and her son that has ties to two businessmen who have been accused of tax evasion and money laundering. The real estate company was linked to the illegal enrichment charges [AP report] by renting properties from one of the businessmen who has been formally charged. The entire investigation was launched after a legislator reported the alleged corruption.

Last year a judge in Argentina dismissed criminal allegations against Kirchner that accused her of conspiring to shield Iranian officials from responsibility for the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires. Kirchner was accused [JURIST report] of the cover up in January 2015. An appeals court in Argentina ruled in May 2014 that a controversial agreement between Argentina and Iran to investigate the 1994 bombing was unconstitutional [JURIST report]. The two nations signed [JURIST report] the agreement in January 2013, which permitted Argentine authorities to question the Iranian suspects under Interpol arrest warrants, but only in Tehran. In 2005 Argentina accepted [JURIST report] formal responsibility for its failure to discover who was behind the 1994 bombing.