Story highlights
Assets belonging to former Argentina president have been frozen
Judge indicts Fernández de Kirchner and 11 others
Former Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner was charged with corruption Tuesday and had $643 million of her assets frozen, according to state-run news agency Télam.
A judge indicted Fernández de Kirchner along with 11 others on illicit association, for allegedly directing public road works to a company called Austral Constructions during her presidency.
The judge formally presented the charges of corruption, illicit association and aggravated fraudulent administration, against the former president along with her former minister of planning Julio De Vido, former secretary of public works José López and businessman Lázaro Báez of Austral Constructions.
The illicit association could carry up to 10 years imprisonment, Télam reported.
Fernández de Kirchner is not under arrest, but remains under investigation. She can appeal the process, wait for the end of the investigation or see whether the judge decides to send her to trial.
Former government official, Lopez is currently in jail and will be tried after being caught trying to bury bags of cash containing $9 million underneath a monastery earlier this year.
Former Argentine government official caught hiding millions
Fernández de Kirchner, a leftist, termed out and left the presidency in December last year. She has previously denied any wrongdoing and has alleged that she was being targeted by her conservative successor, Mauricio Macri.
In a Facebook post Tuesday, Fernández de Kirchner implied she was the target of persecution, although she did not specify anyone in particular.
She is also on trial in another corruption case, dubbed “dolar futuro” by the media in Argentina, in which she is accused of allegedly meddling with the sale of US dollars by the nation’s central bank.
