Raúl Moneta, businessman and former head of Mendoza Bank (Banco Mendoza), whose operations were suspended by the Argentinean Central Bank (Banco Central de la República Argentina, BCRA) in April 1999 amid allegations of fraud (LatinFinance May 2000; Clarín 3 June 1999; ibid. 8 Dec. 1999), was the subject of at least three investigations in 2000 (Global News Wire 14 Apr. 2000; Intervoz 17 Jan. 2000; Diario Los Andes 27 July 2000). The following limited chronology provides information on these investigations.

On 17 January 2000, the Córdoba newspaper Intervoz reported that the Supreme Court (Corte Suprema de Justicia) had determined that the two separate federal investigations of alleged wrong-doing by Moneta in connection with the failure of Mendoza Bank, one led by Mendoza-based federal judge Luis Leiva, the other headed by Gustavo Literas, a federal judge based in Buenos Aires, should be combined and placed under the sole control of Judge Literas. Following this decision, Moneta's lawyers submitted a request to Judge Literas asking him to suspend the proceedings initiated in Mendoza by Judge Leiva (ibid.; Diario Los Andes 26 Jan. 2000).

On 26 January 2000, the Mendoza newspaper Diario Los Andes stated that public prosecutor Guillermo Montenegro had ordered the offices of the Central Bank searched for documents related to the operation of banks headed by Raúl Moneta. According to the newspaper, the search of the BCRA's premises was linked to Moneta's scheduled appearance before Judge Literas on 4 February 2000 (ibid.).

In a 3 February 2000 report, the Buenos Aires newspaper La Nación reported that the Federal Administration of Public Revenues (Administración Federal de Ingresos Públicos, AFIP) had ordered Moneta to pay back-taxes and interest totalling 1,516,000 pesos [CDN$2,185,466 (Pacific Exchange Rate Service 8 Dec. 2000)] on undeclared dividends from companies based in the British Virgin Islands.

According to La Nación, in early February 2000 Judge Literas decided to close Judge Leiva's investigation of suspected illegal activities by Moneta and some of his business associates (ibid. 16 Feb. 2000). The report added that Moneta had publicly accused Leiva of being a "delinquent" (delincuente), and had submitted a request to the Judicial Council (Consejo de la Magistratura) asking that he be removed from the bench (ibid.).

In March 2000, two federal deputies, Gustavo Gutiérrez of the Democratic Party (Partido Demócrata, PD) and Elisa Carrió of the Civic Radical Union (Unión Cívica Radical, UCR), called for Judge Gustavo Literas' indictment and removal from the bench, accusing him of irregularities in his handling of the investigation of alleged criminal activities by Raúl Moneta (Diario Los Andes 23 Mar. 2000).

In April 2000, federal authorities announced that they were continuing their investigation of Moneta for alleged tax evasion (La Nación 14 Apr. 2000; Global News Wire 14 Apr. 2000), and on 13 April 2000 the AFIP lodged a criminal complaint against him in Economic Crime Tribunal (juzgado penal económico) No. 9 for non-payment of US$1,042,799 [CDN$1,539,588 (Pacific Exchange Rate Service 8 Dec. 2000)] in taxes on personal property between 1992 and 1996 (Diario Los Andes 14 Apr. 2000). No information on the outcome of these proceedings could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

On 8 May 2000, a newly-formed organization called the Mendoza Complaint Association (Asociación Mendoza Denuncia), whose only admitted member was Moneta's cousin's lawyer Pablo Lucini, launched a Website and took out newspaper advertisements calling upon the public to provide information on "corrupt judges" (jueces corruptos) in Mendoza (ibid. 9 May 2000; ibid. 12 May 2000). According to Diario Los Andes, the Association was formed by supporters of Raúl Moneta in order to obtain material which could then be used by Moneta against federal judicial officials (ibid. 9 May 2000; ibid. 10 May 2000).

In July 2000, the Federal Criminal and Corrections Appeal Court (Cámara Federal de Apelaciones en lo Criminal y Correccional) confirmed the annulment of economic subversion (subversión económica) charges laid against Raúl Moneta by Judge Luis Leiva (La Nación 14 July 2000; Global News Wire 16 July 2000).

On 26 July 2000, Diario Los Andes claimed, citing UCR federal deputy Elisa Carrió, that Moneta was under investigation for money laundering. In a subsequent report, Carrió claimed that the investigation had been initiated by the United States Senate, and that Moneta figured among a number of individuals and companies, based in Argentina and elsewhere in Latin America, suspected of involvement in the money laundering scheme (ibid. 27 July 2000). No further information on this investigation could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

In August 2000, three journalists, along with the president of a national Jewish organization, the Delegation of Israelite Associations of Argentina (Delegación de Asociaciones Israelitas Argentinas, DAIA), lodged a complaint in Mendoza court against Moneta after he allegedly made anti-Semitic remarks regarding the journalists during a television interview broadcast the previous month (La Nación 2 Aug. 2000; ibid. 3 Aug. 2000). No further information on this incident could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

On 18 September 2000, the Judicial Council called Moneta as a witness in its investigation of alleged misconduct by Judge Luis Leiva (Canal 9 Televida 18 Sept. 2000; La Nación 19 Sept. 2000). In his testimony, Moneta claimed that Leiva had asked him for a bribe of US$3 million [CDN$4,509,000 (Pacific Exchange Rate Service 8 Dec. 2000)] in return for not ordering his arrest in June 1999 (La Nación 19 Sept. 2000).

In October 2000, federal deputy Gustavo Gutiérrez accused Moneta of launching a media campaign against anyone seeking to investigate him (Diario Los Andes 24 Oct. 2000).

On 5 December 2000, Luis Leiva appeared as a witness before the Judicial Council, which was investigating his conduct while serving as a federal judge in Mendoza (La Nación 6 Dec. 2000a; ibid. 6 Dec. 2000b; Clarín 6 Dec. 2000). In his testimony, Leiva accused six Buenos Aires-based federal judges, namely Gustavo Literas, Carlos Liporaci, Rodolfo Canicoba Corral, Claudio Bonadio, Luisa Riva Aramayo and Horacio Vigliani, of accepting bribes and of favouring Moneta in their deliberations (ibid.; La Nación 6 Dec. 2000b; ibid. 6 Dec 2000a).

No further information on the investigation of Moneta for the period subsequent to 6 December 2000 could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

Canal 9 Televida [Mendoza]. 18 September 2000. "El ex banquero Raúl Moneta aportó hoy una serie de 'pruebas' que comprometerían del juez federal de Mendoza Luis Leiva." http://www.canal9-mendoza.com.ar/ [Accessed 18 Sept. 2000]

Clarín [Buenos Aires]. "Moneta insultó al juez que había pedido su captura." http://www.clarin.com.ar/ [Accessed 7 Dec. 2000]

_____. 8 December 1999. "Las causas contra Moneta pasan a la Justicia porteña." http://www.clarin.com.ar/ [Accessed 28 Feb. 2000]

_____. 3 June 1999. Rafael Moran "Ordenan el arresto del banquero Raúl Moneta." http://www.clarin.com.ar/ [Accessed 28 Feb. 2000]

Diario Los Andes [Mendoza]. 24 October 2000. "Denuncian agresiva campaña de Moneta." http://www.losandes.com.ar/ [Accessed 24 Oct. 2000]

_____. 27 July 2000. "Moneta sería investigado por el Senado de EE. UU." http://www.losandes.com.ar [Accessed 20 Oct. 2000]

_____. 26 July 2000. "Acusan a Moneta de 'mafioso dedicado al lavado de dólares.'" http://www.losandes.com.ar [Accessed 20 Oct. 2000]

_____. 10 May 2000. "En la Justicia Federal no les preocupa que los investiguen." http://www.losandes.com.ar [Accessed 10 May 2000]

_____. 9 May 2000. "El entorno de Moneta pide datos contra la Justicia Federal." http://www.losandes.com.ar [Accessed 9 May 2000]

_____. 14 April 2000. "Denunciaron a Moneta por evasión." http://www.losandes.com.ar [Accessed 14 May 2000]

_____. 23 March 2000. "Piden el enjuiciamiento y la destitución del juez Literas." http://www.losandes.com.ar [Accessed 24 Mar. 2000]

_____. 26 January 2000. "Caso Moneta: fue allanado el Central." http://www.losandes.com.ar [Accessed 6 Dec. 2000]

Global News Wire. 16 July 2000. "Villalonga to Negotiate Future in the US Before Leaving Telefonica." (NEXIS)

_____. 14 April 2000. "Argentine Business Briefs." (NEXIS)

Intervoz [Córdoba]. 17 January 2000. "Ofensiva judicial del banquero Raúl Moneta." http://www.intervoz.com.ar/ [Accessed 7 Dec. 2000]

LatinFinance. [Coral Gables, Florida]. Dan Krishock, Chris Humphrey, Mark Mulligan and Jonathan Wheatley. "A New Attitude." (NEXIS)

La Nación [Buenos Aires]. 6 December 2000a. "Denuncias que jueces favorecían a Moneta." http://www.lanacion.com.ar [Accessed 7 Dec. 2000]

_____. 6 December 2000b. "Opinión: Soluciones y presiones." http://www.lanacion.com.ar [Accessed 7 Dec. 2000]

_____. 19 September 2000. Adrián Ventura. "Moneta ratificó que el juez Leiva le pidió una coima." http://www.lanacion.com.ar [Accessed 7 Dec. 2000]

_____. 3 August 2000. "Más cargos en contra de Raúl Moneta." http://www.lanacion.com.ar [Accessed 7 Dec. 2000]

_____. 2 August 2000. "Denunciaron a Moneta ante la Justicia por discriminación." http://www.lanacion.com.ar [Accessed 7 Dec. 2000]

_____. 14 July 2000. "Anularon una causa contra Raúl Moneta." http://www.lanacion.com.ar [Accessed 7 Dec. 2000]

_____. 12 May 2000. Susana Reinoso. "Jueces en la mira del entorno de Moneta." http://www.lanacion.com.ar [Accessed 7 Dec. 2000]

_____. 14 April 2000. Martín Kanenguiser. "Denuncias contra 40 empresarios." http://www.lanacion.com.ar [Accessed 7 Dec. 2000]

_____. 16 February 2000. Luis Gregorio. "Moneta se defendió y tildó de delincuente al juez Luis Leiva." http://www.lanacion.com.ar [Accessed 7 Dec. 2000]

_____. 3 February 2000. Martín Kanenguiser. "La AFIP, detrás de Raúl Moneta." http://www.lanacion.com.ar [Accessed 7 Dec. 2000]

Pacific Exchange Rate Service. 8 December 2000. http://pacific.commerce.ubc.ca/xr/ [Accessed 8 Dec. 2000]