Overview
- A criminal trial accusing Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and her son Máximo of laundering money through Hotesur and Los Sauces hotels has begun before a Tribunal Oral Federal led by José Antonio Michilini and joined by Adriana Palliotti and Fernando Machado Pelloni.
- Prosecutors argue that funds flowed to the Kirchner family through rental payments tied to unpaid taxes by Oil Combustibles and to money from public‑works contracts awarded to Lázaro Báez.
- Judge Michilini previously acquitted Cristina Kirchner in the Memorándum con Irán case, a decision that the Cámara de Casación later revoked and the Supreme Court ordered retried.
- Adriana Palliotti has a record of opposing returns of intervened Kirchner companies and voted to convict Lázaro Báez in the ruta del dinero K case, while Machado Pelloni was part of the panel that convicted former AFIP head Ricardo Echegaray and acquitted businessmen Cristóbal López and Fabián de Sousa in the Oil Combustibles case.
- Legal experts note that past acquittals and later reversals by higher courts mean the trial’s verdict is likely to face intense appellate review, which could reshape outcomes for defendants and affect political fallout linked to the broader corruption prosecutions.