The justice of La Rioja has expired the software license of the UFED devices, which are used to extract information from cell phones and computers and incorporate it into files. That is one of the reasons why the criminal investigation against civil judge Norma Mazzucchelli, an official filmed asking for $8,000,000 as “a recognition” for processing an succession, has stalled, as she revealed. Telenoche Investigates.
“The secretary of the Judicial Technical Police informs that, For economic reasons, they cannot count on the renewal of the UFED license, thus preventing the extraction of computer data from the complainant’s phone.”. With these words, the criminal judge María Cecilia Córdobain charge of investigating his civilian colleague Norma Abate de Mazzucchelli, addressed the president of the Superior Court of Justice (TSJ) of La Rioja, Gabriela Asís, and asked her to “proceed to allocate funds” for the Technical Police , a body that depends on the TSJ.
Also read: Scandal in La Rioja: a judge is denounced for asking for $8 million to expedite the succession file
This is not about opening a locked or hijacked device. The material that is sought to be extracted via UFED (by its English name Universal Forensic Extraction Device) is an audio offered by the victim, which is on his cell phone. Manuela Saavedrathe administrator of the succession that was being processed in the Fourth Chamber in Civil, Commercial and Mines of the capital of Rioja, a court chaired by Mazzucchelli, provided a video to the court (the hidden camera where Mazzucchelli asks for money) and also offered a Audio taken with your phone.
Judge María Cecilia Córdoba, in charge of the case of Norma Abate de Mazzucchelli, requested the allocation of funds to the Technical Police to be able to continue with the investigation. (Photo: Telenoche Investiga)
According to Judge Córdoba, it is “indispensable” extract the audio with the UFED system and the objective is “to guarantee the protection and conservation of the evidence, avoiding its potential loss, destruction or alteration, and thus ensuring the integrity of the judicial process.” La Rioja has purchased two UFEDs in recent years but does not have an active license, which It would cost about US$30,000according to judicial sources (other sources maintain that the amount is much higher).
The Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation has a unit that functions as an auxiliary of justice in the provinces through agreements, the Directorate of Judicial Assistance in Complex Crimes and Organized Crime (DaJuDeCO), and uses the UFED, but this alternative would involve depriving the victim of a telephone that he uses for personal and work purposes. And prosecutor Luis González Aguirre asked that this not happen until the expert report, in the presence of the woman, has a date.
The truth is that La Rioja has expired the license to operate the UFED, system sold by an Israeli supplier to different provinces and security forces, useful for much more delicate investigations than this, such as those referring to pedophile, trafficking or drug trafficking networks. To make matters worse, the Rioja justice system is in an economic emergency, so he “Mazzucchelli case” will involve implementing more conventional solutions to attest to the origin and content of the audio in question and allow the case for “concussion” against the judge to advance.
More about the judge: the exclusive video
Judge Norma Mazzucchelli was filmed asking the administrator of a family inheritance for $8,000,000. She is charged with “concussion” and faces impeachment. (Video: Telenoche Investigates)
judicial emergency
The revelation of the “Mazzucchelli case” coincided with an upheaval in the Rioja judicial environment. Not only was a flood of other complaints from victims unleashed (complaints of corruption, delays and judicial arbitrariness in all jurisdictions), but public salary demands began to be made. The judicial officers of La Rioja have the worst salaries in the country.
In the last month, self-convened judicial bodies presented urgent formal requests to the president of the TSJ, Gabriela Asís, to manage a salary restructuring before the governor, Ricardo Quintela. They showed him pay stubs. There were also marches of judicial delegations from the interior of the province to the Superior Court, in which senior officials participated. And there were several “applauses” in courts, withholdings of tasks and the threat of a total strike.
Also read: The judge accused of asking for million-dollar bribes was charged: she could receive a sentence of up to 4 years in prison
A judicial employee with three years of service does not earn $300,000 and one with 12 years does not earn $400,000, said Sonia Amaya, Chamber Secretary in the Chilecito judicial department, interviewed by local radio. A secretary with 35 years of seniority earns $900,000. A Rioja chamber judge or prosecutor with 20 years of seniority earns $1,001,262, last place in the ranking by province of the Argentine Federation of the Judiciary and Judicial Function. A chamber judge with the same seniority in the City of Buenos Aires earns $5,428,297.
Furthermore, in the Judicial Service of La Rioja there are few competitions, too many “transitional” judges and a striking technological backwardness.
There is no electronic file, Excel is hardly used and incorporating any document presented by a lawyer can take two years. The economic and administrative emergency governs the entire provincial justice system. Not only are the UFEDs inactive: in some offices there is not even paper. This occurs shortly after the approval of a constitutional reform that incorporates articles on “digital rights and duties,” “digital citizenship” and “big data.”
