BUENOS AIRES: The head of the pro-government CGT umbrella union Antonio Caló was charged with money-laundering as part of an ongoing investigation into questionable deals by the UOM metal workers union.
The charge was ordered by economic crimes prosecutor Gabriela Ruiz Morales, who said Caló and others had received US$20,000 a month from 1987 to 2008, which came from 20 percent of all the life insurance and funeral costs of UOM members.
Caló, himself the secretary-general of the UOM, was one of the first major Peronist union leaders to support the presidential bid of Victory Front (FpV) candidate Daniel Scioli.
The prosecutor decided to press charges as a result of her investigation into the relationship between insurance businessman Julio Raele and union leader Lorenzo Miguel, both of whom passed away years ago. The investigation also reaches UOM leaders Juan Carlos Chumen, Lisandro Zapata and Aníbal Martínez, as well as the authorities of the firm Instituto de Seguros SA. The writ was filed before Judge Pablo Yadarola.
Lorenzo Miguel was the leader of the Peronist unions from the 1970s until his death in 2002. Caló, his successor as UOM secretary-general, leads the Kirchnerite faction of the CGT umbrella union.
The case began after the Oral Tribunal of Economic Criminal Court No 2. sentenced Segundo Córdoba, a former UOM legal secretary, to a year and nine months in prison for trying to get US$800,000 out of the country.
Córdoba testified that from 1987 until December 2008, when he left the UOM, the Instituto de Seguros SA (owned by Raele) had paid him and other union leaders a monthly “fee” of US$20,000 that resulted from 20 percent of the insurance collection of all UOM members.
The accused declared he received the money every month in “clean brown envelopes.”
His statements were confirmed by UOM’s treasury secretary Roberto César Echenique and union lawyers Ricardo Weisz and Hugo Rodríguez.
Córdoba pleaded guilty, paid a fine and avoided serving jail time.
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