The Justice enabled the reexamination of the case due to alleged irregularities in the construction process of the Antel Arena, after the board of directors of the state telecommunications company Uruguay made the formal request, by order of the president Luis Lacalle Pou. The assigned prosecutor will have 20 calendar days to decide whether to reopen the investigation or not.
Judge Alejandro Asteggiante resolved this Friday to enable the reexamination of the case Antel Arena for another prosecutor to investigate whether, in fact, no crimes were found during the construction of the stadium in Montevideo, As argued by the prosecutor of Economic Crimes Alejandro Machado upon filing the case at the end of February.
The lawyers of Antel They had requested this judicial instance after President Lacalle Pou asked the head of the public company, Annabela Suburú, that “all possible instances” would be exhausted to clarify the irregularities surrounding the construction promoted by the Frente Amplista Carolina Cosse when he was in charge of the organization.
For Machado, there were “sloppiness” and “wasteful management of the public resources” in the process, but not crimes; reason that led him to file the case. However, according to the state company’s legal team, the evidence of illegalities exists and, furthermore, there is still evidence to collect.
With Judge Asteggiante’s decision—which was expected to be positive for reexamination since this type of request is not usually rejected—the case moves to the deputy prosecutor that, from its notification, it will have 20 calendar days to decide whether to reopen the investigation or, on the contrary, confirm its archiving.
The prosecutor would be in charge of 1st Shift Money Laundering, Enrique Rodríguez; who investigated the case when he was in charge of Economic Crimes and was even recognized for his work by the former president of Antel, Gabriel Gurméndez, in whose management the complaint was made for irregularities in the construction process of the Antel Arena.
What arguments are present in the complaint and what should the new prosecutor investigate?
As confirmed in the complaint filed in November 2021 by the board of directors of Antel, The problem lies, mainly, in three irregularities that were allegedly committed during the construction of the stadium.
First of all, it would have violated “the specialty principle” which establishes that autonomous entities cannot carry out “businesses extraneous” to their function determined by law. That is to say, Antel should not have been able to build an entertainment complex since it has nothing to do with its public role.
On the other hand, the cost of the Antel Arena It ended up being more than double what was initially estimated by the mayor of Montevideo in license use, Cosse, as confirmed by an external audit. Furthermore, in comparing the cost of constructing the stadium with other similar spaces in the region, that of the capital would have been considerably higher.
For Machado, these issues represent “sloppiness” and “wasteful management of resources,” but not crimes that should be punished by law. The new prosecutor in charge of reexamining the case must decide if he shares the conclusion of the head of Economic Crimes or if, on the contrary, he reopens the investigation.
Source: Ambito
