Ernesto Clarens, the mastermind behind Kirchner’s corruption laundering, opened an offshore company to operate an account in Switzerland

Designated as the financier of Néstor Kirchner and prosecuted for money laundering in several court cases for corruption during the terms of the Santa Cruz couple, Ernesto Clarens opened a business in the Bahamas which until now was not known. The reason? Manage an account in Switzerland. Thus follows from Pandora Papers, the 12 million documents shared by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) with its members.

Ocean Spray Premier Ltd was registered on April 20, 2007, by BDS Corporate Services Ltd. Until now, it had not been revealed so far in the various judicial inquiries in which the financier of the laundering of the “returns” of the public works of Kirchnerism was involved and confessed to repentance of the so-called cause of the corruption notebooks.

Among the archives of Pandora Papers figure a power of attorney to Clarens issued by Ocean Spray Premier Ltd, only 20 days after registration of the signature, to open and operate with the Banca del Sempione de Lugano, a town in the Swiss canton of Ticino speaking Italian. The document – dated May 10, 2007 – is stamped, apostilled and signed by a Panamanian notary.

In the acts of Pandora Papers to which the Argentinian ICIJ team had exclusive access, composed of Infobae near The nation and elDiarioAr, Clarens is not listed as a shareholder. Instead, it’s listed with 50,000 shares of $ 1 each, BdS Corporate Services Limited, the financier Swiss group of Banca del Sempione based in Nassau (Bahamas), and intermediary of more than 80 offshore companies between 2003 and 2012, according to Leaks at sea.

The director of Ocean Spray Investments does not include an individual but another company, the Sociedad de Directoria Centro Americana SA. The scheme for companies that operate as mamushkas Russian is common in the company register off the coast to hide the real owners.

Before consulting InfobaeIn the environment of Clarens, it was not known at first that he had owned this company or operated with an account in Switzerland through it. “It was not used. He did not have a bank account. It was dissolved shortly after without assets or movementsWas the answer.

But after a few days, and after the first revelations of Pandora Papers, who was the contact person for the founder of Financial Inverness, was contacted again. “Rummaging through his papers, he remembered opening it“, He transmitted to this media. Although he insisted that Clarens claimed that “it has never been used and has had no activity”.

However, according to the Bahamian Registrar of Companies, Ocean Spray Premier has been open for six years. In the documents it is listed as dissolved on February 26, 2013. In addition, the last annual maintenance fee shown for the documents, of $ 350, is as of January 23 of this year.

Mirror companies

In the same file in which the name of Ernesto Clarens appears, there is another power of attorney in favor of his wife, granted on May 10, 2007, which also allowed him to open and operate another account with the even Banca del Sempione in Lugano, Switzerland. But in this case, the power of attorney was granted by the cabinet Skyline Premier Investments Ltd, premiered in the Bahamas on the same date as Ocean Spray Premier, April 20, 2007.

As a “shareholder” of Skyline Premier, BdS Corporate Services Limited is again listed, with 50,000 dollar shares, the financial company of the Swiss group which registered it. The only difference is as a director is the company Sociedad Latina de Management and Consulting SA. According to the Bahamas Registrar of Companies, the company is also dissolved on the same day as the Clarens company, February 26, 2013.

Before consulting InfobaeFrom the environment of Clarens, they stressed that he did not remember this company and denied any intervention by his wife or the possession of a bank account in Switzerland. At the insistence of this medium, after Clarens regained his memory, the person close to the financier explained that the woman was going through a health problem and that he could not ask for more details.

From Patagonia to Belize

There is a third company that appears in Pandora Papers that Clarens admitted, on behalf of his wife and mother-in-law, Clara Esther Lamberti, already deceased. Both were registered as shareholders of Global Company Ltd.. The company was registered in Belize on July 14, 2015 through an offshore service company CitiTrust (hoy CILTrust) International Ltd, and the intermediation of the Panamanian study Alfaro & Calvo.

Global Company Ltd. has established its domicile in the offices of the firm Baker Tilly in the free zone of Montevideo, Uruguay. Less than a year after its creation, its closure was resolved, on March 10, 2016, and by June of the following year, it was already listed as dissolved.

Close to the financier, they insisted on detaching his wife from any illegal activity. “His wife has not used Global. These are vehicles that are often assembled for doing business, and then not used, ”they stressed.

“Clarens’ mother-in-law, who is already deceased, had an important heritage in Credisol, whose money is outsourced before AFIP”, they indicated. They said they did not know “if it was declared” but that this company had no assets, no business and, therefore, had no tax impact. “

Lamberti was a partner of Crédisol, a financier linked to the Clarens companies, and suspected of money laundering. Credisol was the only company authorized to provide loans to public employees in Santa Cruz, which allowed it to expand into the financial sector and enter other activities. Credisol bought rooms at the Alto Calafate hotel, owned by the Kirchners, managed by the Báez companies, as a “forced expense”. Parts that have never been used.

Before consulting Infobae, they pointed out that Clarens did not know why his mother-in-law chose Belize.

CILTrust International Ltd, based in a small Caribbean country, was founded by Glenn D. Godfrey, Member of Parliament of Belize and former Attorney General and Minister of Tourism, and his wife Joy. The company, originally called CitiTrust International (unrelated to banking giant Citigroup), specializes in the creation and management of shell companies and trusts for foreign clients. Glenn Godfrey, Joy Godfrey and CILTrust did not respond to repeated requests for comment from the ICIJ.

Belize is a known hotbed of financial crime. In 2019, the United States classified it as a “major money laundering” jurisdiction. That year, Belize had registered more than 35,000 shell companies. CILTrust does not publish how many businesses it helps start each year, but the business is touting itself as one of Belize’s “best” startup agents.

The Clarens offshore course

Today, Clarens faces serious legal problems. The Federal Chamber confirmed on September 17 his prosecution as head of a criminal structure set up to launder more than 504 million pesos from corruption in public works during Kirchnerism.

This criminal operation lasted between 2003 and 2015, as verified by Justice. During these years, Clarens also set up a complex network of offshore companies which emerged in 2016 thanks to another investigation by the ICIJ, Panama Papers. It included companies such as Litren Company, Pampa Realty Investments, Manfes International LLC, Kerry Consultants, Amurnung SA, Runner Properties LLC, with real estate in the United States and Uruguay.

Pandora Papers now reveal other pieces of the fabric off the coast financial and key equipment in collecting bribes from public works during Kirchnerism.

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