The judicial investigation into irregularities in the sale of the official dollar during Alberto Fernández's government has added an explosive piece of evidence: audio recordings that implicate the technical line of the Central Bank (BCRA) and suggest the complicity of higher authorities. According to Noticias Argentinas agency, based on information revealed by the Clarín newspaper, the recordings were provided by a cooperating witness and expose dialogues between Elías Piccirillo, former husband of Jésica Cirio, and a bank official. The material, which is already in the hands of Federal Judge Sebastián Casanello, shows Romina García, a BCRA inspector, acknowledging before Piccirillo the existence of a corruption scheme: “There were people all the way up entangled, you understand?”. “At that moment, everyone up top knew it... we showed it all to the top and no one did anything. No one lifted a finger,” García is heard saying. Based on this evidence, federal justice officials raided five BCRA officials, including García, at the end of the year and seized cell phones and computers. Piccirillo, who is currently under house arrest for another case of case-building and drug trafficking, allegedly recorded the conversation to extort his own partner. The cooperating witness who provided the material is Carlos Sebastián Smith, alias 'El Lobo', a retired Federal Police officer who worked for Piccirillo. According to his testimony, Hauque had threatened several executives to operate his financial firms and access the official dollar when the exchange rate gap exceeded 100%. Threats and Official Silence In the audio, the official tries to play the victim, claiming they received threats from Hauque, but confesses that internal complaints were shelved by the authorities of Miguel Ángel Pesce's administration. “That is prohibited,” the conversation states. The conversation, dated February 1, 2025, reveals that Central Bank officials were advising Francisco Hauque, Piccirillo's partner, in exchange for bribes, a practice that García herself admits is illegal in the audio: “But we can't do that. That is prohibited.”
