‘Cuadernos’ case: Former Techint director confirms near US$1mn payment to Baratta
Former Techint executive Héctor Zabaleta, speaking under oath, confirms money deliveries matched those registered by Oscar Centeno, the driver who kept records on which graft case is based. Leer más
A former Techint executive, Héctor Zabaleta, testified in court that he made six payments totaling nearly US$1 million to former government official Roberto Baratta during 2008. Zabaleta, who was the administrative director of Techint at the time, confirmed that these payments were made on the instructions of Luis Betnaza, the Institutional Relations director of Techint.
The payments were made in pesos, despite Baratta's preference for dollars, and were linked to the repatriation of Argentine workers and their families from Venezuela. The payments were made in response to the controversial situation surrounding the Sidor steel plant in Venezuela, which was controlled by Techint during Hugo Chávez's presidency.
The payments were intended to persuade the Kirchner government to intervene on behalf of Techint to secure the workers' departure. Both Zabaleta and Betnaza were initially prosecuted for the payments, but their cases were dismissed in 2020, as the court deemed the payments to be made in an emergency context and not as bribes.
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