BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA, NOV 2 (AFP/APP/DNA):An Argentine court has ordered nearly $500 million in assets seized from ex-president Cristina Kirchner and other beneficiaries of a corruption scheme for which she is serving a six-year sentence.
In a ruling seen by AFP on Wednesday, a federal court ordered the forfeiture of more than 100 assets, including properties, owned by 72-year-old Kirchner, two of her children, and others.
Kirchner, a dominant and polarizing figure in Argentine politics for over two decades, was first lady from 2003-2007, when her late husband Nestor Kirchner was president.
She succeeded him for two terms until 2015 and later served as vice president to Alberto Fernandez from 2019 until 2023, when Javier Milei took office.
In June, Argentina’s Supreme Court upheld her corruption conviction over the awarding of public works contracts in the southern Patagonia region when she was president.
She was allowed to serve her sentence under house arrest with an electronic ankle monitor, banned from holding public office for the rest of her life and ordered to pay back nearly $500 million.
In the ruling issued late Tuesday, the court ordered the seizure of assets for the same value, to “restore the illicitly obtained assets — and their derivatives — to the State… and at the same time compensate society for the material and symbolic damages resulting from the criminal conduct.”
The order covers a property Kirchner owns in Santa Cruz province in the Patagonian region, and 19 assets transferred to her two children.
It also names 84 assets of businessman Lazaro Baez, who is serving time for corruption in road works in Santa Cruz during the administrations of Kirchner and her husband.
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