In argentina are due to deliver a verdict later on tuesday in a corruption case involving the country’s vice-president, 69-year-old cristina fernã¡ndez de kirchner. prosecutors are seeking a 12-year jail sentence and want her banned from holding public office for life. ms fernã¡ndez is accused of aggravated fraud and leading a conspiracy to award public works contracts to a friend, charges she denies.
Case has been ongoing since 2007, when ms fernã¡ndez was president of argentina, and took place in the southern province of santa cruz, ms fernã¡ndez’s political stronghold. prosecutors say that they uncovered irregularities in dozens of public work tenders awarded in the province, and allege that ms fernã¡ndez created a kickback scheme which steered lucrative public work contracts towards a friend of hers in return for bribes.
Alleged kickback scheme was uncovered during a gathering on 1 september, when ms fernã¡ndez became the target of an assassination attempt. a 35-year-old man pointed a gun at the vice-president’s head, but the weapon jammed as he aimed it at her. prosecutor diego luciani described it as “probably the biggest corruption operation the country has known”, and said the scheme had caused the argentine state a loss of at least $1bn (â£818m).
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