The complaint against presidential advisor Santiago Caputo put two lobbyists with high-level political and business ties under the microscope: the American Barry Bennett and the Argentine Leonardo Scatturice. Both are partners in the international consulting firm that was hired by the State Intelligence Secretariat (SIDE) and whose operations are now being investigated by Justice.
According to the judicial presentation, the company was hired to act as a link between the Argentine Government and political and economic actors in the United States. The complaint maintains that this role would have involved the creation of informal management channels – outside the Foreign Ministry – and political lobbying tasks, something expressly prohibited by the intelligence law.
Barry Bennett is not a new name in Argentine politics. As a NEWS investigation revealed some time ago, the American lobbyist had already played an active role during the transition that brought Javier Milei to the Casa Rosada. With direct access to sectors of the Republican Party and Donald Trump’s entourage, Bennett was identified as a key operator in Washington to build bridges with the new libertarian government.
Leonardo Scatturice, meanwhile, appears as the local partner and owner of the consulting firm hired by SIDE. A businessman with a past linked to the world of intelligence and contacts in international conservative networks, Scatturice is mentioned in the complaint as a central figure in the creation of the contract that is currently under investigation.
The judicial presentation – promoted by former vice president of the UIF María Eugenia Talerico – points to possible crimes such as influence peddling, abuse of authority and violation of the National Intelligence Law. The focus is on whether SIDE was used to finance and channel political lobbying tasks and parallel international relations.
As the case advances in Comodoro Py, the names of Bennett and Scatturice re-emerge as key actors in a plot where intelligence, power, business and the most sensitive internal aspects of the Government intersect.
