Argentine peace adviser investigated over money laundering and drugs: president distances himself
Fernando Cerimedo, already detained for attempted femicide, faces two new fiscal investigations in Bolivia for money laundering and alleged protection of drug traffickers.
Paz severs ties with Cerimedo following new fiscal investigations
Bolivian president Rodrigo Paz distanced himself on Wednesday from his Argentine personal adviser Fernando Cerimedo, detained last week on suspicion of attempted femicide. According to rfi.fr, the Public Prosecutor's Office has also opened two new investigations against the consultant: one for money laundering and another for alleged protection of drug traffickers.
Cerimedo, 45, was arrested after his ex-partner, lawyer Nadia Beller, survived three shots in an attack carried out by hired assassins. Beller accused him of having planned the attack to prevent her from reporting alleged acts of corruption linked to the government and the family of the First Lady, María Elena Urquidi.
"There was never a contract"
"There was never a contract (...) there was never a direct working relationship" between Cerimedo and the presidency, Paz stated in a televised message. "He never had authorisation to represent" the president, "the government or my family," he added. The leader acknowledged that the Argentine had assisted him during the electoral campaign and at the beginning of his administration, but noted that he failed to establish a "solid working arrangement" with him due to his international commitments.
The government itself had reported last week that Cerimedo was Paz's personal adviser, although it clarified that he did not hold the status of a state official.
New criminal cases
The Vice Minister of Transparency, Yamil García, confirmed on Wednesday that the Public Prosecutor's Office initiated an investigation against the consultant "for the possible crime of laundering illegal proceeds (money laundering)", based on statements from Beller during her recovery. García specified that it would be a prosecutor who would determine "who would or would not have participation" in the facts, when asked about the situation of the First Lady.
In parallel, a prosecutor from the Amazonian department of Beni opened a second inquiry into "certain protection that appears to be being given" to irregular flights of small aircraft engaged in drug trafficking in that region, also based on statements from Beller.
Cash and bot farm
In a search conducted last week, prosecutors found the equivalent of approximately 43,000 dollars in cash at the consultant's residence and what they describe as a "bot farm" for operating anonymous accounts on social media.
Cerimedo is known in Latin America for his role as a consultant in electoral campaigns for right-wing leaders such as Javier Milei in Argentina, Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, Nasry Asfura in Honduras and Paz himself in Bolivia.
"I have a record of public service, with a wife who has been beyond reproach (...) Scandal is not proof," the leader responded to Beller's accusations.
Source: Google News BO — Crime