Buenos Aires, February 13 (NA) – The Buenos Aires City Criminal Court dismissed an appeal filed by theater entrepreneur Javier Farone, who requested the case be removed from ordinary jurisdiction. The appeal concerned alleged fraudulent schemes that the AFA is said to have carried out in the United States. Judge Ignacio Rodríguez Varela accepted a request from entrepreneur Guillermo Tofoni, who filed a complaint against President Claudio “Chiqui” Tapia and Treasurer Pablo Toviggino. The appeals court overturned a ruling by Judge Paula Petazzi, who had sent the case to Luis Armella of the Lomas de Zamora Judicial Department, deeming that decision “premature and hasty”. According to the ruling, “frauds do not cease to be common and are manifestly within the jurisdiction of this court, regardless of the importance of the amount of the damage, or because its effects extend to several jurisdictions of the republic or involve a private institution of enormous relevance to the Argentine citizenship”. In turn, Rodríguez Varela stated that the alleged fraudulent maneuvers and apparent money laundering could have common evidence: “The progress of the processes will allow for a deeper understanding of the facts and a more precise adjustment of their legal classification”.
