Nicolas Caputo admitted to money hidden in tax havens during money laundering promoted by Mauricio Macri

Nicholas Caputo entered Money laundering that paid in 2016 His close friend and former business partner, then president Mauricio Macri. honest before AFIP Millionaire dollar money he kept in a bank account in Switzerland It is controlled by Society in the Cayman Islands.

Caputo’s money laundering involved declaring a financial structure that included, in addition to the account and company, a trust. TAll this was settled for years and a tax was imposed on the total, which was backed up by supporting documents. But that was not enough to quell the bloodshed of the Federal Administration of Public Revenue (AFIP). After receiving information from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the collection agency began an audit in 2021 that is still open.

Both financial honesty and inspection focus on AFIP Newman Trust, Trust that Kabuto It has been controlled by the Cayman Islands since February 2015 With the help of Amicorp, a global company dedicated to managing this type of corporate structure, according to documents accessed by International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), include LA NACION, Infobae, and ElDiarioAR.

With that trust, Kabuto took the reins of an offshore company he called Newman Ltd.which opened in turn, Swiss bank account Julius Baer. Both the trust and the offshore company have categories that indicate To the school where Nikki and Macri studied.

At the age of 63, Caputo was or had been a shareholder in companies such as Central Puerto, the Caputo family construction company, and Mirgor, who at one time had Macri Group as a partner. Weeks ago, his name gained public prominence again when Vice President Cristina Kirchner gave a public address in response to Attorney General Diego Luciani’s allegation in the Velidad case. He said Kabuto had ties of trust with the former Secretary of Public Works in the Kirchneriya Jose Lopez Justice demanded an investigation.

Three years after it got into money laundering, Caputo’s offshore network underwent changes in 2019, as confirmed Nation Accounting documentation. The businessman closed the bank account of Julius Baer He informed AFIP and Transfer money to another account in Switzerland, at Banque Pictet, who – which As announced in front of the Argentine Treasury.

By then, the Julius Baer Many controversies have accumulated, both in Argentina and globally. Among other reasons, for his role in hiding fortunes linked to FIFAgate, the scandal that rocked football. In 2016, President Macri reported this He had a bank account in the Bahamas branch of that bank, which he later returned.

After consulting the Argentine team of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, In the Caputo environment, he confirmed the existence of this offshore network and noted that today’s businessman had announced everything before AFIP, for their total assets, showing supporting documents.

Caputo has been paying taxes in Argentina for that trust and linked account since he was loyal in 2016. They confirmed close to the businessman before consulting the Argentine team of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, although they did not specify the source of the funds deposited in Switzerland.

According to documents accessed by the Argentine ICIJ team, the law firm employee Amicorp who was in charge of the proceedings noted in the forms that the sole controller of the extranet was Caputo, then the owner of Caputo SAIC and “a shareholder of Caputo SAICYF, Mirgor SA and Central Puerto”. in a form called “know your customer”, Figure that the income came from his earnings as a shareholder in those companies.

In Argentina, in accordance with the options enabled by local legislation, Caputo laundered the existence of the trust before the AFIP, which granted it the value of 1 pesos. But in the same act, he also reported the linked bank account, which contained dollar balances for which he paid taxes to the local treasury. The amounts disclosed are still in reserve.

In August 2021, after the change of government, AFIP opened several audits to Argentine taxpayers who accepted money laundering. Among them, Kabuto was searched. They started after the collection agency – which was led at the time by Mercedes Marco Del Pont – Receive information from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development about Argentines who have banking and financial assets abroad.

In Caputo’s case, according to people close to the businessman, “AFIP has detected a potentially anomaly”. s He sought to ascertain why Macri’s partner and friend would advertise The Newman Trust for only 1 peso.

Because he was able to rebuild NationAnd the The inspectors of the Microcentro division of AFIP went to the Caputo accountant’s office This is also the case with Macri and other well-known public figures from the most diverse fields. To find supporting documentsincluding bank statements and company balance sheets, which would validate Caputo’s declaration of total account assets at Pictet Bank in Switzerland.

Along the same lines, close to Caputo, they pointed out that Macri’s “brother of life” – in the words of the former president – is not the only taxpayer facing a similar review of the AFIP, which They ruled out a political motive.

According to documents seen by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, Caputo took control of another offshore company, Nicky Worldwide Corporation, Founded in Panama in 2009 to Property control in Florida. Unlike the Newman Trust, The businessman has advertised this company before AFIP since its inception, although it is no longer his.

In 2018, Macri’s close friend sold the company – and thus the property – to his brother Jorge Antonio Caputo. The company responsible for operational procedures in Panama has appointed directors to be the visible face of the company.

Thus, as of May of that year, “Tonio” Caputo became the sole owner and controller of that offshore company, whose funds – according to registration forms – correspond to “Business Income” is associated with Central Puerto, Mirgor and Ecogas companies.

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The Argentine ICIJ team consists of Ricardo Brum, Hugo Alconada Munn, Maya Jasterplansky (Los Angeles Nacion), Evan Ruiz, Mariel Fitzpatrick, Sandra Crucianelli (Infobae) and Emilia Delfino (El Diario R).