Argentina: Former Transportation Official Found Guilty in Graft Case
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Version 0 of 1. An Argentine former transportation minister was convicted Tuesday on corruption charges after he acknowledged having accepted vacations and free rent from businessmen whose companies had government contracts. In a plea bargain Ricardo Jaime, transportation minister from 2003 to 2009, got a suspended sentence of one and a half years — merged with punishment for a separate crime — and was ordered to pay more than $200,000. Judge Julián Ercolini wrote in his sentencing that Mr. Jaime, 60, took vacations to Brazil in private jets provided by Claudio Cirigliano, whose rail company operated a major commuter line. The judge added that Mr. Jaime also lived in apartments whose rent was covered for years by a company that operated a major bus terminal. Mr. Jaime renewed the company’s contract while it was paying his rent, the local news media reported. |