The senator for Entre Ríos Edgardo Kueider is the owner of a company that would have several units in his name in a luxury building linked to businessmen arrested for corruption, after a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme to officials was revealed, aimed at securing contracts for the companies of the involved,” revealed the El Disenso Web site.
The report explains that although Kueider entered the Senate in December 2019, so far, only a corrective Affidavit for the year 2021 is available in the Anti-Corruption Office. There, the legislator, who declared assets of 5.4 million pesos, refers to a stake in the company Betail SA, which he avoids naming and only refers to by its CUIT.
Betail SA, founded in 2018 with a share capital of $100,000, is dedicated to the wholesale sale of live cattle and production of agricultural crop seeds. Kueider joined the board in January 2020, along with his friend Javier Rubel, a category C monotributista with exempt VAT.
According to the documentation shown by the El Disenso site (a form with a list of expenses), the company Betail SA would be the owner of several units in the “LIVE” VIP Apartment located at 511 Santiago del Estero Street, in the city of Paraná, Entre Ríos. These would be garages 12 and 14, apartments 46 (6th floor, department D) and 47 (6th floor, department E) and semi-floor 72 (13th floor, department B).
Two blocks from the river, the tower has a gym, swimming pool, barbecue area and solarium. In the original publications of the real estate company that markets this VIP complex, it can be seen that the units went on sale with a base price of USD 320,000 (without garage), so the total amount of Betail SA’s investment can be easily deduced. in said building.
That a company in which Kueider is a shareholder has property does not in itself constitute a crime, as long as the firm can demonstrate the legal origin of the funds that made such investments possible.
Striking change: from Betail SA to a secretary in Kueider’s office in the Senate
As far as he could know The Between Riversthe expense sheets for the building in question would have undergone a recent significant modification: the Betail public limited company disappeared from the list of those who must pay the expenses.
In her place is a woman, Iara Magdalena Guinsel Costa, who in February 2024 was appointed, by Resolution 0283/24, to the temporary staff of the Honorable Senate of the Nation, “for the Office of the Senator of the Nation, Dn. Edgardo Darío Kueider with category A-1-T”, as can be read.
Tortul, the neighbors
A relevant piece of information from the document analyzed is that the neighbor of the semi-apartment on the 13th floor, which appears in the name of Kueider’s company, would be the accountant and businessman Claudio Tortul, who appears as the owner of five more units in the same building.
The development group of this real estate venture is made up of partners of the brothers Claudio and Marcelo Tortul, who are currently imprisoned in the Ezeiza Prison.
Judge Sandra Arroyo Salgado leads an investigation that revealed an alleged corruption scheme in which brothers Claudio Tortul and Marcelo Tortul, owners of Tornell SA, paid bribes to politicians and members of ENERSA (Energía de Entre Ríos Sociedad Anónima) in exchange for irregular contracts. The indictment, issued on May 3, details a complex network of bribes and favors that would involve senior officials and directors of the state company, showing systematic corruption practices in the awarding of energy projects in Entre Ríos.
In October 2023, at the request of Judge Arroyo Salgado, the Tortul brothers were arrested after the collection of evidence that directly linked them to this corruption scheme intended to benefit their business interests. This evidence revealed how bribes facilitated obtaining contracts for Tortul companies, compromising key figures within ENERSA.
In addition to the arrest, embargoes for 30 billion pesos were issued for each of the Tortul brothers. The investigation continues, now trying to determine the full scope of the corruption scheme in order to identify all accomplices involved in the bribes that facilitated obtaining contracts at the state energy company.
Among the almost 400,000 emails analyzed by the court, one was detected between the Tortul brothers where they mention that “next week we have to pay Bordet’s share,” then Governor of the province.
During his administration, Gustavo Bordet appointed his Secretary General of the governorate, Edgardo Kueider, Claudio Tortul’s neighbor, as Director of ENERSA representing the State.
In the last sworn statement presented by the senator, the units in the name of Betail SA are not mentioned, a company that declares a value of 50,000 pesos. Meanwhile, justice has not yet identified the Entre Ríos officials and ENERSA authorities who received the million-dollar bribes.
Source: El Disenso Web and El Entre Ríos
