Argentina’s cassation court combines Hotesur and Los Sauces cases — Buenos Aires Times

Argentina’s Federal Criminal Cassation Court has ordered that the Hotesur and Los Sauces cases, linked to the family of former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, be heard in a single trial. The combined proceedings are due to begin on Friday, October 23, Buenos Aires Times reports.

Charges in the case

The investigations concern the Hotesur and Los Sauces hotel chains in Patagonia in southern Argentina, which belong to the Fernández de Kirchner family. Prosecutors allege possible money laundering, participation in an illicit association and corruption.

According to the prosecution, the hotels may have been used to process alleged kickbacks connected to multimillion-dollar public works contracts awarded to businessman Lázaro Báez, an ally of the Kirchner family. Prosecutors claim that Báez paid substantial bills for hotel rooms in which nobody stayed.

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There are 25 defendants in the proceedings, including Máximo Kirchner, the son of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, as well as businesspeople and former officials. Her daughter, Florencia Kirchner, was excluded from the proceedings because the court concluded that she had no authority to make decisions in the companies under investigation.

Cassation court’s decision

Hearings in the Los Sauces case had previously been scheduled to begin on October 23, while the Hotesur trial was set for March 19, 2027. Chamber I of the Federal Criminal Cassation Court overturned the decision to split the proceedings by a majority vote.

Judges Daniel Antonio Petrone and Diego G. Barroetaveña voted to combine the cases, while Alejandro Slokar issued a dissenting opinion. Petrone said that the separation of the proceedings had not been properly justified and that organizational difficulties, the number of witnesses and the expected duration of the hearings were not sufficient grounds to reject a joint trial.