The Supreme Court confirmed Four-year prison sentence against Julio de Vidoformer Minister of Federal Planning during the governments of Nestor and Cristina Kirchner, for his participation in the crime of fraudulent administration at the expense of the state. Associated with a railway tragedy once upon a timewhich happened on February 22, 2012, and who left 52 dead and 789 wounded. Moreover, the ruling stated: Permanent deprivation from holding public officeHe was prevented from assuming any position within the state administration, and established that he must bear the costs of the judicial process.
By applying Article 280 of the National Civil and Commercial Procedure Code, Judges Horacio Rosati, Carlos Rosencrantz, and Riccardo Lorenzetti They rejected as inadmissible appeals filed by the defence, which sought to vacate or reduce the sentence, and appeals from the prosecutor’s office, which sought to increase it. thus, The ruling was final and enforceableIt is possible that the former minister will be arrested soon, as he has never been imprisoned for this reason.
The judicial investigation into the Once tragedy began in 2013, when… Judge Claudio Bonadio adjourned the case to an oral trial Against 28 defendants, including train driver Marcos Cordoba and two former transport ministers, for fraud against public administration and derailment due to negligence. Throughout the two-year operation, the judicial system convicted a number of officials, businessmen and a train driver. For his responsibility in the accident.
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As of December 2015, the Second Federal Oral Court issued a conviction against Córdoba, the owners and directors of Trenc de Buenos Aires (TBA), the service’s concessionaire, and former secretaries Ricardo Jaime and Juan Pablo Schiavi. He decided that the tragedy This was due to the poor condition of the trainThe lack of maintenance despite the allocated funds and negligence in leadership, and he ordered the opening of an investigation into the responsibility of the then Federal Minister of Planning.
Three years later, in 2018, the Federal Oral Court 4 sentenced Julio de Vido to five years and eight months in prison for fraudulent management, considering that He did not commit to monitoring the use of public funds Designated for TBA. However, he was acquitted of negligent destruction, a criminal offense directly linked to the deaths and injuries resulting from the train accident.
Julio de Vido, former undersecretary and businessman, was convicted in the liquefied gas case
The reading of the ruling of the Federal Oral Court 4 left a strong sentence: “Between Di Vido and the driver of train number 16, a chain of responsible parties has been identified, all of them closer than the former Minister to the areas of operational management of the railway service of the Sarmiento line.” He pointed out that “the Ministry of Planning did not control the destination of the funds, despite public reports warning of the poor performance of the trains.”
The Criminal Cassation Chamber ratified the conviction and De Vido’s defense appealed to the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court had confirmed in its first ruling Former Minister Kirchner acquitted of the crime of sabotageBut in August 2024 he upheld his criminal liability for fraud and ordered a new sentence to amend the sentence. Now, the decision, which was adopted by a majority with Justices Carlos Rosencrantz, Riccardo Lorenzetti, and Associate Justice Mariano Borinski – in dissent with Horacio Rosati and Associate Justice Marina Cosio – argued that it was not appropriate to impose a harsher sentence on him than the one he imposed on the others convicted of both crimes.
When you return it The case goes to the Court of CassationThe court imposed a four-year prison sentence in April 2025 after a hearing, although both the prosecution, which sought to increase the sentence, and the defence, which sought to reduce it, appealed the decision. Finally, the Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected both parties’ appeals and affirmed the four-year prison sentence, nullifying the defense’s latest attempt to have the case declared time-barred.
What happened in the tragedy of the train accident that shocked the country in 2012?
The Lunes tragedy occurred on February 22, 2012, at 8:33 a.m., when a train on the Sarmiento Line (formation 3772, panel 16) failed to stop upon its arrival at the Lunes Terminal in Buenos Aires. From the shaping effect It collided with the containment bumpers of platform 2 The first three cars crashed, trapping dozens of passengers, most of them workers heading to work during rush hour.
The accident left 52 people dead About 789 wounded, many of whom rushed to hospitals in Buenos Aires. The collision was so powerful that it caused an internal explosion, shattered the glass, and generated a shock wave inside the vehicles carrying nearly 1,200 people. This was the third most serious railway accident in Argentine history Serious failure in maintenance and service control.
He was behind the tragedy Concessionaire of Buenos Aires trains (To be determined later) which operated the Sarmiento Line under a contract with the state and did not perform the necessary maintenance despite receiving public funds. Throughout the investigation, justice established responsibilities and convicted businessmen, officials, a train driver and a former Federal Planning Minister for fraudulent management in the use of those resources.
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