I wrote this almost exactly two years ago when the hapless Sr Jose Lopez was discovered lugging bags of loots and other stuff over the walls of a nunnery.
QuoteDisplay MoreNuns on the run, The Walrus and other fugitives....Part I
It's been about six months now since Queen Cristina Kirchner was dethroned and,like peeling away the skins of an onion, the enormity of her and her acolytes' crimes are only now coming to light.
And boy! what a time to be a reporter.
Only last month the ex-minister for public works, Jose Lopez was caught red-handed chucking bags over the walls of a convent inhabited by three elderly nuns and this was only by chance, since a chicken farmer, who had got up early for work at three am, noticed a man 'behaving suspiciously' outside the convent and called the police. When questioned by police, Sr Lopez assured them that he was 'donating' money to the convent for a new gym (for 85 year old nuns) and he was worried that the corrupt police might steal his money.That may explain why the police also discovered a Sig Sauer semi automatic assault rifle with the loot then. The fact that the money was in cash, used bills of dollars, euros and rials along with jewels and expensive watches totalling around US$10 million, left a lot of people scratching their heads and a certain Sr Lopez being hauled away to a remand prison for his own safety, but more on that later.
Next day, Sr Lopez's lawyer appears and she is none other than Fernanda Herrera, an erotic dancer and a 'hot' lawyer, according to the press, ie she's blond and dances a bit. However, a couple of weeks later, just to spoil our fun, she resigns as Sr Lopez's lawyer, citing his inappropriate sexual advances in the interview room no less, as if the bloke didn't have more pressing matters on his mind. Anyway, last week Fernanda secures a regular spot on Showmatch, Argentina's raunchy version of Strictly Come Dancing and her future is secured.
But, back to the nuns, one of whom was interviewed last month complaining that Sr Lopez had crept into the convent kitchen through a window and made off with all their scones, not before offering the Mother Superior his very kind donation and when asked about his general demeanour, the nun in question said that he appeared 'somewhat disoriented and not quite himself'. So it comes as quite a surprise to find a video emerging last night which shows the sisters opening the convent gate and assisting Sr Lopez with his bags of loot and no doubt serving him a generous helping of tea and scones in their cosy kitchen later on.
When asked about the convent incident,Julio de Vido, Sr Lopez's ex boss stated that he hardly knew the man and he certainly wasn't his right hand man, only to find a video of Mr De Vido congratulating Lopez for being that very right hand man. How odd then to find that the man (De Vido) who is implicated in one the biggest fraud and corruption case/s ever to be heard, distancing himself from his ex employee and friend of more than 30 years. No surprise there then.
If you think the convent expedition isn't quite enough, a close associate of the dethroned Queen, a certain Lazaro Baez was recently detained and all his 250-odd properties, 900 luxury vehicles and other chattels in the province of Santa Cruz (Cristina's home state) searched and many acres of land dug up in the search for money. I mention this because our Lazaro was a penniless bank clerk a few years ago and is said to have accumulated a staggering amount of wealth during the Kirchner regime which runs into many billions of dollars. In fact, it's now being estimated that the ex president, her deceased husband, others mentioned here and many more, have defrauded the state of around US$120 billion over a period of about twelve years, using an elaborate overpricing and money laundering scheme, the pieces of which are still being put together. To put that figure into perspective, Argentina's GDP in 2013 was around US$600 billion.
As of today, the ex president has had all her assets and bank accounts frozen, her two children investigated (they have millions tucked away and have never worked a day in their lives) and many witnesses/perpetrators such as Sr Lopez are now being protected by paramilitary Swat teams, issuing them with bullet proof vests and military helmets.
Meanwhile, the nuns are being asked to declare before a state's attorney and whilst I haven't yet mentioned The Walrus in this message, the plot thickens and the knives are out as The Walrus (La Morsa) is non other than the ex cabinet chief, Anibal Fernandez, implicated in murders and gigantic drug running schemes with Mexican cartels to fund the presidential elections of Cristina Kirchner in 2007.There's just so much to report on right now, that I'll have to leave The Walrus for part two.
