In September 2021, the Judge Carlos “Coco” Mahiques signed the closing of the case for the sale of the lands in Lago Escondido, in El Bolsón, province of Río Negro. In other words, his decision benefited the English magnate Joe Lewis and his family.
In December 2016, the judge Julian Ercolini dismissed Hector Magnettothe boss of Clarín and Telecom, in the Papel Prensa case.
In February 2015, the magistrate Paul Cayssials suspended the adequacy ex officio of the Grupo Clarín to the Media Law.
These three judges participated in a trip to the ranch of Joe Lewis in Hidden Lake allegedly organized by directors of Grupo Clarín, with all expenses paid. This means that the magistrates who made decisions favored businessmen and time later were feted by the beneficiaries.
These revelations arose more than a month ago through a note in the Página/12 newspaper and were deepened in these hours by the leak of a chat group that included all the guests on that trip. The case took on a greater public dimension after Alberto Fernández denounced it on a national channel.
The Hidden Lake Plot
This story begins on October 17 with the publication of the trip news. That same day, the protagonists of this story created a Telegram group to organize a public explanation about a trip riddled with irregularities. The protagonists of that chat are the judges Julián Ercolini, Carlos Mahiques, Pablo Cayssials and Pablo Yadarola; the City Attorney General, Juan Bautista Mahiques; the Buenos Aires Minister of Security, Marcelo D’Alessandro; former intelligence agents Leonardo Bergroth and Tomás Reinke; the president of Grupo Clarín, Jorge Rendo, and another director, Pablo Casey, the nephew of Héctor Magnetto.
The leak of this private conversation led to two discussions: on the one hand, about espionage and the publication of a talk that was given in a private setting; and on the other hand, the facts that are narrated and the attempt of people who claim to be honorable and proven, concocting illegal maneuvers to hide crimes.
On October 19 (two days after the trip was known), the Buenos Aires Minister of Security, D’Alessandro, suffered an attack on his telephone line and seized, among other things, his account of the Telegram messaging service. The content of that leak was published on a hacking site that offered the full material for 600 dollars to be paid in cryptocurrencies.
The leaked chat group called itself “The Huemules”, in reference to the species of Andean deer that inhabits the Andean area they visited. The main reason for the conversation was to contain the blows of the trip leak and, from there, criminal maneuvers began to be written to protect themselves. The first reaction is to deny everything that happened and report espionage, to block any investigation and make themselves the victims. But in parallel they say that they are making calls to obtain invoices that justify the trip by private plane and the lodging. The main anger is with José Glinski, director of the PSA (Airport Security Police), who they accuse of being responsible for the leak.
As expected, the most concerned about the judicial future were the judges, who did not trust the alibi of denying that they had been in Lago Escondido for fear that their presence there could be proven. “The main reportable issue would already be resolved with the invoices,” said Ercolini. He was referring to the fact that if they could get proof that each one had paid for their trip and stay, it would be more difficult to accuse them of bribes.
borrowed
According to sources from this magazine, a round-trip flight to Bariloche on a private plane costs around $15,000 plus VAT, if paid with an invoice and everything declared. Without vouchers it is cheaper, but this flight, according to the sources consulted, would have been a courtesy of the businessman Gustavo Carmonaowner of the company FlyZar and close friend of Juan Bautista Mahiques. This also arises from the words of the judge cayssials: “We cannot say that they gave us the flight”.
To justify the lodging, according to the chat, they would have asked for trout invoices from Nicolás Van Ditmar, the administrator of Lewis’s properties in Argentina. The contact with Van Ditmar would be Tomás Reinke, one of those involved who until a few days ago worked in a company of the Sentidos Group, which manages advertising accounts from different governments. Reinke is the one who usually organizes trips to Lago Escondido with businessmen, politicians and media owners, such as the directors of Clarín that he invited on this occasion, or Fernán Saguier from the newspaper La Nación, who was accompanied from a certain José on a previous trip. As can be seen from the chat, visitors to La Nación would have stolen cigars that belonged to Lewis. Rendo, from Clarín, in another section of the chat, he suggested not to invite them again.
In his audios, the consultant Reinke was restless because he said he had clients who could see a conspiracy on that trip. Among his clients were officials of the government of Alberto Fernandez. Due to this scandal, Reinke was separated from Grupo Sentidos from this month.
In the Government there were also repercussions. At press time, the head of advisors to the President, Julián Leunda, presented his resignation for having been mentioned by the nephew of Magneto in conversation with the judges. Casey He said that Leunda expressed his solidarity with him and assured him that nothing would come out on the subject on the channel. official C5N.
It was a luxurious weekend, with games of poker, paddle tennis, soccer, barbecues and whiskey on the mountain, which they went up by helicopter. All paid. They planned to repeat the experience. Now it will be more difficult.
