The Public Prosecutor’s Office confirmed today that the Court of Guarantees No. 2 gave rise to the request made by the Prosecutor’s Office for Complex Economic Crimes, requiring the trial of Ramos.
On April 25, 2022, the intervening Court of Guarantees decided to suspend the referral of the case to trial until the Chamber of Senators of the province of Salta issued a ruling regarding the waiver of Ramos’ immunity, who at that time was serving as a senator.
On November 30, 2023, Salinas Odorisio presented the request for trial, considering that Ramos at the end of his term as provincial senator no longer had the privileges granted by the Constitution of the Province of Salta, implying that the process of immunity initiated by The Chamber of Senators of Salta was without effect.
The cause
In 2020, the then prosecutor Veronica Simesen de Bielke formally required the elevation of the case against Ramos to trial.
The actions were initiated at the time by the Municipality of Rosario de Lerma under the management of the now former mayor Ignacio Jarsúnafter a request for surrender from the Province.
Ramos is accused of diverting public funds that were transferred by the Province of Salta to the Municipality of Rosario de Lerma, by virtue of the management carried out by the accused before the Secretariat of Social Economy and Employment of the Ministry of Labor.
The financing corresponds to the Decentralized Employment Generation and Vocational Training Program implemented by the Government of the Province of Salta, where Ramos managed a social enterprise project to make prefabricated boxes.
The funds, for a global amount of $341,715, were settled to the Municipality through the current bank account it has at Banco Macro, in two different accreditations; one from August 26, 2013 for the amount of $250,715 and another from November 13 of the same year for the sum of $91,000, destined for the creation and implementation of the project.
From the measures ordered by the Complex Economic Crimes Unit, it was possible to establish that the work that was to be carried out was not carried out, since in the place where it was to be carried out there are no indications that allow inferring the completion of the work, nor could verify that it was carried out elsewhere.
The circumstance was corroborated with the visual inspection carried out by personnel from the Economic Crimes Division and by what was stated by a witness who reported having carried out a survey to verify the work and that in the property where it was to be carried out he found no signs of ground movements. , which had to necessarily be carried out to start the work.
It was also reported that a member of the Edificadorg Cooperative who was supposed to carry out the project went to the place in question and that he said that he dug holes with a pick and shovel for the perimeter fencing and that he was never paid for that work.
In addition, he maintained that currently the wells were filled with earth and that the place is vacant land.
From the external audit to determine accounting and financial everything related to the project that was presented by the accused, it was established that with the money received only tejuelines were purchased for an amount of $30,000, which was the only expenditure made, so it is unknown the final destination of the other $311,715.
It also emerges that there are no payments made by the Municipality to the Edificag Cooperative, to any of its members and/or for the explicit Project.
The accusation maintains that it is the municipality (and its mayor) who must ensure the execution of the funds and render them, regardless of whether a cooperative has been contracted to carry out the works.
For this reason, Ramos is considered legally responsible as head of the municipality for the lack of financing submission as well as the lack of the work in question.
