The Federal Appeals Court of San Martín has confirmed the indictment of former Buenos Aires Minister of Transport Jorge D'Onofrio and businessman Facundo Asensio as co-authors of the crime of money laundering. The case centers on the acquisition and use of a high-end Audi Q8 truck, declared for a much lower value than it was later insured and resold. For the court, that 'jump' in values—purchase, insurance, and resale—is not an administrative detail: it is a consistent indicator that requires an explanation, which, so far, has not been convincingly provided. To that chain is added another key link: the direct link of D'Onofrio with the vehicle. The combination—ministerial power, weighty ties in the provincial coalition, and now a prosecution for aggravated money laundering—once again raises a question that is often repeated in Argentine politics with resignation: how much opacity can the system tolerate before demanding clear explanations. The case remains under federal jurisdiction, as the Court rejected the defense's argument for the case to be handled in provincial court. Additionally, the court confirmed the seizure of 300 million pesos on Asensio, considering that the amount is in line with the legal forecasts related to the penal scale and possible fines in money laundering cases. The case revolves around a sequence that, for the judges, is full of warning signs. In money laundering cases, the coherence of the account is usually as important as the documents: when explanations clash, the situation worsens. At a central point, the court recalled a criterion reiterated in case law: money laundering is an autonomous crime and does not require a final conviction for the preceding illicit act, but a reasonable demonstration that the assets under investigation come from a criminal origin. In D'Onofrio's case, the court added the aggravating factor due to his status as a public official, a decision that brings him closer to oral trial and once again places under scrutiny the link between power, privileges, and difficult-to-explain money. The ruling, signed by judges Marcelo Darío Fernández, Juan Pablo Salas, and Marcos Morán, ratified the resolution of federal judge of Campana, Adrián González Charvay, and rejected the appeals presented by the defenses. According to the court, prima facie a crime of strictly federal nature is investigated, such as money laundering. Later, the truck was sold in November 2024 for 77,310,000 pesos, more than double the value recorded at the beginning. This strikes at the credibility of public administration and erodes the trust of citizens who pay tolls, fines, verifications, and services while observing how, at the top, some seem to move by different rules. D'Onofrio resigned due to a scandal that had already fractured his management. However, it was insured for 173.8 million, that is, for almost six times the declared amount. In that line, the Chamber considered it 'relevant' that D'Onofrio is formally accused in a case handled by UFI No. 11 of La Plata for alleged misappropriation of public funds during his tenure as provincial minister. For the Chamber, the decision of the first instance was duly founded and the assessment of the evidence is 'reasonable and sufficient' at this stage of the process. With that definition, the case continues its course towards the oral instance, while the accused remain tied to a process that, due to its volume of evidence—bank and registry reports, requests to control bodies, raids, and seizure of the vehicle—will hardly dilute into silence. In institutional terms, the chapter leaves a worrying signal: when a former minister is associated with luxury goods with numbers that don't add up, the damage is not limited to a single name. They argued that the money was licit and that Asensio would have received 30 million through a loan contract with the firm 'Los Altos de Don Carlos S.A.', chaired by his father, in addition to resources from the sale of a property. According to the file, a few days after the purchase, a blue card was issued in the name of the then Buenos Aires minister. However, the court emphasized that the society 'does not register verified activity' and that the declared addresses do not show effective operation, elements that weaken the exculpatory hypothesis. In other words: the price of 30 million would not fit the market, and that discordance is precisely the type of trail that appears when trying to 'whiten' operations through undervalued declarations. The defenses attempted to explain the origin of the funds. In a case where the center is the suspicion of 'interposition' of names to hide the real ownership of a good, these elements—for the appellate judges—are not mere coincidences: they point to a use and availability that would exceed the defensive account of an occasional loan. The Chamber also weighed the testimony of a witness who later acquired the truck. According to the analyzed documentation, Asensio registered the Audi Q8 in his name on October 19, 2023, and declared to have bought it for 30 million pesos. For the appellate judges, those inconsistencies 'acquire sufficient legal entity' to erode the credibility of the defensive versions. Now, with the prosecution confirmed by the Federal Chamber of San Martín, the scene changes tone: politics is left behind and the judicial file takes center stage. At that moment, the Buenos Aires government spoke of 'personal reasons', but the departure occurred under public pressure and with ongoing investigations. According to his account, the vehicle was offered for 100 million pesos and the purchase was made for a figure slightly less than 80 million due to 'a scratch and a minor collision'. When an explanation depends on papers that do not hold up in the economic reality, Justice tends to look more closely, and that is what happened here. The ruling also highlighted relevant contradictions between the accused themselves about the use of the vehicle. D'Onofrio said he drove it only once to 'test it' and that the blue card was a 'gesture' associated with the campaign and the beginning of his management, although he assured that 'it was not really necessary' to use it. Asensio, on the other hand, stated that he lent it 'for a few days' with the intention of selling it to him and that, due to the closeness between them, he asked him the favor of processing the TelePase. For the judges, that data 'gives factual support' to the hypothesis that the real value was substantially higher than that declared at the time of acquisition.
