Judge Norma Abate de Mazzucchelli, president of the Fourth Chamber of Civil, Commercial and Mines of La Rioja, resigned from her position after the repercussions of the bribery complaint against her.
In addition, the Association of Women Judges of Argentina requested the preventive suspension of her position as first vice president after learning of the fact. For his part, Governor Ricardo Quintela promoted an investigation into the scandal that broke out.
“Yesterday a presentation was made to the prosecutor’s office with the complaint and there the prosecutor sent them to the Superior Court of Justice. And today at 9:30 the resignation presented was entered by the Administrative Secretary,” judicial sources reported.
The magistrate had been denounced by a local merchant for asking her for $8 million to expedite the succession file.
In a “hidden camera” video that was broadcast on Wednesday by Channel 13, the judge directly asked the complainant, Manuela Saavedra, “How much do you think you can (pay)? Who did everything to you? Who managed everything for you? It wasn’t the lawyers here.” After being approached by one of the journalists who made the report, The magistrate denied everything. “I don’t know that,” he defended himself.
According to what the merchant said, the magistrate told her: “It’s simple, Manuela. Nobody here is going to put a gun to your chest,” after writing down a number 8, as a suggestion for a hypothetical sum of money in millions of dollars. pesos.
Saavedra is the owner of a bookstore that she inherited from her family and she is the judicial administrator of that succession, in a process that has been going on for four years and has made virtually no progress. According to her she said, “For quite some time I had been asking for the release of funds because I needed them to meet the inheritance expenses and there was always a reason why those funds were not given to me,” the woman explained.
Always according to Saavedra’s version, Judge Abate de Mazucchelli asked him for explanations for the delay in a first meeting. “She told me that she knew my uncle and that she was going to make it an exception or favor to meet him and that she was going to help me get him out quickly,” she explained.
At another point in the hidden camera video, the magistrate complained about her salary. “Us They pay us a shit salary, We did not reach a million pesos. How do you think you can live with that? ”She tells the complainant.
Saavedra also said that the judge later went to visit her at her bookstore. “She pulled me aside and told me that the next day I could have the issue resolved and we could start with the jobs, but that it had a cost, because it was a lot of work,” the woman said.
The next day, always according to the merchant’s story, Abate de Mazucchelli sent a woman who said he worked with her and stated that all the writings were ready to be removed and carry out the tasks. When the complainant visits the judge again, her presumed good will was transformed into an apparent economic interest.
“Are you going to charge me eight million? I can’t pay that.” And he crossed out the 8 and wrote a 5. “Do you want 5 million? But it’s a lot, doctor,” the complainant said in the note.
When the scandal broke out, Governor Quintela publicly requested his removal from office and an investigation into the case.
On the other hand, the provincial Legislature is expected to meet to debate his dismissal. Judge Mazzuccelli has been in the judicial system for more than 30 years and is considered a key figure in the field of the Judiciary, according to her publications Chain 3.
