[NYTr] Argentina, Venezuela and the strange case of the cash-stuffed suitcase Date: Sat, 11 Aug 2007 15:04:03 -0500 (CDT) Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit [This scandal was just breaking yesterday with only one mainstream news story about it. Today there is wide coverage, and it develops that the "Venezuelan businessman" is actually a resident of Dade in South Florida. He was discovered traveling on a private jet to Argentina with a suitcase jammed with $800,000 in yanqui dollars. The group of international businessmen (and/or maybe an Argentine official) he was traveling with were said to be discussing Argentina's natural gas deals, and some attempts were made to link him with Hugo Chavez, who just visited Argentina (see the last story below, AP via The New York Times, Aug 8th, where the bagman is reported to be "a Venezuelan"). This now appears to be unlikely and the scandal seems more an Argentine affair.-NYTransfer] excerpted from VIO Venezuela Daily News Roundup - August 9 & 10, 2007 [A scandal developing in Argentina involves a Venezuelan-born businessman who is a resident of South Florida. The Miami Herald reports that Guido Alejandro Antonini Wilson was arrested carrying $800,000 in undeclared cash as he traveled aboard a chartered flight with a top Argentine government official. The story is causing political turmoil in Buenos Aires, for corruption has plagued the last years of the presidency of Nestor Kirchner, and may affect his wife, Senator Christina Kirchner, in her campaign. Chavez says the businessman has no link to the Venezuelan government, the Los Angeles Times reports. -VIO] The Los Angeles Times - August 10, 2007 http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-fg-money10aug10,1,2442396.story Bag of cash spurs Argentine worries By Patrick J. McDonnell A shadowy Venezuelan businessman toting almost $800,000 in his suitcase arrived in a private jet chartered by the Argentine government. He allegedly failed to declare the cash, as required by law, but customs inspectors opened the bag and discovered the stash, in neat bundles of $100 bills. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who was visiting to ink new aid deals, promptly labeled the matter a U.S. plot to undermine his latest petro-diplomacy initiatives. "It is an absolute falsehood that the $800,000 had anything to do with functionaries of our government," Chavez told reporters here. The murky affair, which surfaced this week, has become the latest scandal to shake the government of Argentine President Nestor Kirchner, one of Chavez's staunchest Latin American allies. The timing -- just as Chavez was in Buenos Aires and pledging an additional $1-billion-plus support package for Argentina -- heightened suspicions of unsavory petro-dollar dealings in the midst of an increasingly heated Argentine election campaign. "This is the proof of the corruption of this government," said Elisa Carrio, an opposition candidate in the Oct. 28 presidential campaign. It turned out that an Argentine state-controlled energy concern had chartered the jet in connection with a $400-million gas deal signed this week by Kirchner and Chavez. The government placed blame on the faulty judgment of a well-connected Argentine federal planning official, Claudio Uberti, who has close ties to Venezuela and was on the jet. Uberti was forced to resign Thursday. Uberti and another senior Argentine government representative composed an official delegation returning to Buenos Aires from Venezuela. Also on board were several executives of the Venezuelan state oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela, and the son of a company vice president, authorities said. And then there was the cash-toting Venezuelan businessman, according to the official Argentine account. Observers immediately labeled the fishy incident the latest setback in the campaign of Kirchner's designated successor, first lady Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, a federal senator with a big lead in preelection surveys. "The question is: How many blows will the poll advantage of Cristina Kirchner endure?" columnist Fernando Gonzalez wrote in the daily newspaper Clarin. Just last month, Economy Minister Felisa Miceli was forced to resign when a bag containing about $31,000 in U.S. currency and 100,000 Argentine pesos, worth about $30,000, was discovered in her office bathroom. No satisfactory explanation has emerged. That awkward find came after a public works bribery scandal unveiled a pattern of false billing in government contracts that tarnished the Kirchners' clean-hands image. "For the first time, Argentina is in serious combat against corruption," President Kirchner declared Thursday, as reports of the latest scandal dominated headlines. Authorities identified the Venezuelan businessman as Guido Alejandro Antonini Wilson, 46, an oil executive with a passion for car racing and a residence in Miami. Whether his alleged failure to report the cash was an oversight or something more sinister remained unclear. Also unknown is the intended purpose of the $800,000. Investigators are trying to find out, but apparently without the moneyman: Antonini Wilson was allowed Wednesday to leave Argentina aboard a commercial flight to the Uruguayan capital, Montevideo, Clarin reported -- after he had forfeited $400,000 as a penalty. *** The Miami Herald - August 10, 2007 http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/venezuela/story/198529.html Venezuelan from Dade at the center of Argentine scandal By Nancy San Martin The mystery of the Key Biscayne Venezuelan caught with more than $790,000 in undeclared cash at a Buenos Aires airport turned into scandal Thursday with the resignation of a senior Argentine government official who accompanied him. Still unclear: Why was Guido Alejandro Antonini Wilson, 46, carrying the cash? Is he friend or foe of Venezuelan President Hugo ChC!vez? Why was he traveling with Claudio Uberti, head of the Argentine government agency that controls toll roads and the main Argentine negotiator in several trade and investment agreements between Buenos Aires and Caracas? Antonini's detention Saturday sparked speculation in Buenos Aires and Caracas that the money was for the presidential campaign of Argentine President NC)stor Kirchner's wife Cristina. But it also came amid a string of corruption scandals buffeting Kirchner's government. ChC!vez has been widely accused -- but never confirmed -- of helping to finance the presidential campaigns of fellow leftists such as Bolivia's Evo Morales, Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega and Ecuador's Rafael Correa. Uberti was asked to resign because he allowed Antonini to join an official Argentine delegation on the flight, Planning Minister Julio De Vido said. Argentine newspaper ClarC-n reported that most of Antonini's cash was seized but he was allowed to leave Monday on a commercial flight to Uruguay. Uberti and Antonini were aboard a chartered Argentina-based airplane that landed Saturday at the Jorge Newbery airport on a flight from Caracas. Also on the plane were Exequiel Espinoza, president of the Argentine government's ENARSA energy company; a public relations aide to Uberti; and four employees of the Venezuelan government's PDVSA oil company -- Ruth Berhrrenes, Nelly Cardozo, Wilfredo Avila and Daniel Uzcateguy, who is the son of PDVSA's vice president. ENARSA issued a statement Wednesday saying it paid for the chartered Cessna 750X to fly Espinoza to Caracas the previous Thursday to close a deal with PDVSA. Uzcateguy invited Antonini to join the return trip, the statement added, hinting that the Argentines aboard did not know Antonini. On their return flight, customs officials in Buenos Aires found $790,550 in cash in Antonini's valise. Some Argentine media reports say he acknowledged he was carrying the cash. But a Peronist party official, Juan Ricardo Mussa, claimed he witnessed the incident by chance and saw Uberti threaten customs agents to keep them from checking the bag. Argentina's customs regulations say arriving visitors must declare all money above $10,000 -- and pay a fine of half the undeclared amount if they don't. ChC!vez, who was in Buenos Aires Sunday and Monday to sign several agreements with Kirchner, said Monday that Antonini was not part of his delegation and accused Washington of alleging that Antonini was an official of his government. Mario Silva, host of the pro-ChC!vez tv program La Hojilla in Caracas, branded Antonini as ''strongly anti-ChC!vez'' and linked him to Isaac PC)rez Recao, another Key Biscayne Venezuelan allegedly involved in a 2002 coup against ChC!vez. Silva also alleged that Antonini had business dealings with a Miami-based arms dealer, and that his trip to Argentina was possibly linked to military businesses in that country. But other Caracas media reported that Antonini was doing lots of highly profitable business deals with the oil-rich ChC!vez government. Public records show he did not sign petitions for a 2004 recall vote against ChC!vez. Records show Antonini paid $606,300 for a condo in Key Biscayne in 2002 and has registered at least four companies in Florida. A woman who described herself as the cleaning lady at his condo said she was unaware of his detention and declined further comment. It is not clear how much time Antonini spends in his condo. One news media report from Caracas said he a co-driver of a Porsche Carrera GT entered in this spring's version of the Gumball 3000 Rally, an annual amateur rally across parts of Europe in which each driver pays nearly $50,000 to participate. Argentine officials have said that the cash seized from Antonini was deposited in a bank account pending settlement of the case. Media reports from Buenos Aires say one prosecutor is investigating possible ''smuggling'' in the case, while the Justice Ministry is investigating the possibility of money laundering. *** Reuters via The New York Times - August 9, 2007 http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-argentina-scandal.html Suitcase of Cash Sparks New Scandal in Argentina BUENOS AIRES - An Argentine scandal over a businessman carrying a suitcase of cash on a government-hired jet has put President Nestor Kirchner on the defensive as he tries to help his wife replace him at this year's election. Claudio Uberti, a highway official who is one of Kirchner's key negotiators on energy deals with Venezuela, resigned on Thursday after he allowed a Venezuelan businessman carrying almost $800,000 in undeclared cash to travel on a jet hired by Argentine state energy company Enarsa. The scandal comes a month after Kirchner's economy minister was forced to step down over more than $60,000 found stashed in a bag in her office bathroom. Under renewed pressure, Kirchner defended his record on Thursday. "I don't cover up anything. When something happens the people find out about it and we take the appropriate measures. For the first time, Argentina is seriously fighting corruption ... whoever is involved," he said in a public speech. Opposition politicians, who are struggling in polls ahead of the October 28 presidential vote, jumped on the new cash case. "This is from God, I'm super happy. The truth has come out, and it is proof of corruption in this government," leftist presidential candidate Elisa Carrio told La Nacion newspaper. First lady Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, a long-time senator, is running to replace her husband as president and polls show her well ahead of her rivals despite a series of scandals involving government officials. Kirchner's government is generally seen as austere and relatively clean after the heavy spending and corruption of Argentine governments in the 1990s, but opposition leaders are now questioning that reputation. "This reminds me of the '90s," Esteban Bullrich, a lawmaker with the center-right PRO party, said of the new scandal. Uberti flew to Venezuela on Saturday along with the head of Enarsa to discuss Venezuelan oil company PDVSA's investments in Argentine energy projects. On the way home, three PDVSA officials, the son of a PDVSA executive and Venezuelan businessman Guido Antonini joined the Argentines on the jet, Enarsa said. Customs officials found the cash in Antonini's suitcase when the group arrived. A prosecutor said the money had been confiscated and Antonini was not arrested and had left the country. She requested a federal judge open an investigation into the incident on charges the man attempted to smuggle the money into the country. Kirchner's cabinet chief, Alberto Fernandez, said the Venezuelans "abused the good faith of Argentine officials" by asking them to take along a businessman with that much money. He said the government kept quiet about the incident for a few days despite heavy media coverage so as not to make Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez uncomfortable on a visit here earlier this week. Chavez is a vocal left-wing critic of the United States and has close ties to Kirchner. He has used Venezuelan petrodollars to win influence in South America and is on a regional tour to announce energy investments in four countries. *** AP via International Herald Tribune - August 9, 2007 http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/09/america/LA-GEN-Argentina-Venezuela-Cash-Suitcase.php Scandal over cash-stuffed suitcase creates uproar in Argentina, Venezuela The Associated Press BUENOS AIRES, Argentina: An Argentine official resigned Thursday after a Venezuelan businessman was found carrying about US$800,000 (?583,00) in undeclared cash on a government-chartered flight, the latest scandal to rock President Nestor Kirchner's administration. Claudio Uberti, who ran a regulatory body for Argentine toll roads, was asked to resign after he let the businessman join an official Argentine delegation on the flight chartered by state energy company Energia Argentina, Planning Minister Julio De Vido said. Uberti agreed to step down. Argentine authorities say Venezuelan businessman Guido Alejandro Antonini Wilson was stopped early Saturday by customs authorities at a Buenos Aires airport after they found US$790,555 (?575,829) in one of his suitcases. Officials so far have given no explanation of why Antonini Wilson might have had the cash or what sort of business he is in. The discovery also created political waves in Venezuela, where the head of the tax and customs agency, Seniat, said it had opened an investigation. Jose Vielma Mora said Venezuelan law prohibits carrying more than US$10,000 (?7,300) in cash and such a sum should have been declared upon leaving. He said the Venezuelans aboard the chartered flight were not part of President Hugo Chavez's entourage during a recent visit to Argentina. Local reports said Antonini Wilson wasn't detained and left Argentina on Monday. His whereabouts remained uncertain. In Venezuela, public voter records show Antonini Wilson is registered to vote at the Venezuelan consulate in Miami, suggesting he lives there. Venezuelan journalists and bloggers jumped on references to an Alejandro Antonini on the Internet, identifying him as auto racing enthusiast. It could not be independently confirmed that they were the same man. Some blog sites listed Alejandro Antonini as one of the drivers who competed in Gumball 3000 races in Europe in 2006 and 2007. In 2006, his team's red Ferrari bore a sticker with a logo used by Chavez's government. The discovery of the cash-filled suitcase and subsequent resignation of Uberti marked the latest in a series of corruption scandals beleaguering Argentina's center-left government. Last month, Kirchner's economy minister, Felisa Miceli, was sacked after US$61,000 (?44,400) in Argentine and U.S. currency was found in a brown bag in her office bathroom. Officials from a gas regulatory agency and the public works ministry resigned earlier amid a bribery scandal. On Thursday, Kirchner defended his administration, vowing to get to the bottom of events. "I don't cover anything up. When something happens, the people find out as they should find out and we take the corresponding measures," he said. Sen. Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner is the front-runner to succeed her husband in the Oct. 28 presidential election. But the scandal prompted opposition candidate Roberto Lavagna and others to call for a full investigation. Political analyst Rosendo Fraga said the scandals have inflicted damage on Kirchner's government, but not enough to seriously cut into his wife's heavy lead in most polls against a divided opposition. "For the government, cases like these hurt without a doubt," Fraga said. "The question is: How much damage can they really do?" The Argentine energy company, Enarsa, has said eight passengers were aboard the jet, including Uberti, Antonini Wilson, and three employees of the Venezuelan state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA. Enarsa said it rented the plane to fly company officials from Caracas who worked on a natural gas supply deal with Venezuela. *** The first story reported on August 8, 2007: AP via The New York Times - August 8, 2007 http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Argentina-Venezuela-Undeclared-Cash.html Venezuelan Probed for Suitcase of Cash The Associated Press BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) -- Argentine authorities said Wednesday they were investigating why a Venezuelan man was carrying $800,000 in undeclared cash aboard an executive jet charted by Argentina's state energy company. Venezuelan businessman Antonini Wilson was detained early Saturday by customs authorities at a Buenos Aires airport after they found the cash in one of his suitcases. Wilson arrived from Caracas aboard the chartered jet with officials from Energia Argentina SA, or ENARSA, which paid for the flight, and Venezuela's state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA. ENARSA issued a statement Wednesday saying it rented the plane to ferry the company officials between the two capitals as they worked out the details of a liquid natural gas supply agreement. On Monday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Venezuela would invest in a regasification plant for liquid natural gas for Argentina, which is weathering an energy crisis. Chavez was in Argentina as part of a regional tour. The Venezuelan president later denied Argentine media reports that Wilson was part of his delegation. Argentine authorities said they were investigating whether Wilson committed a simple customs violation for not declaring the cash or if some other crime may have been committed. * ================================================================= .NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems . Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us . .339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org . List Archives: https://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/ . Subscribe: https://blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr =================================================================