BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) – Corruption allegations always swirled around former President Cristina Fernandez during her two terms in office, but they never stuck.
Now, the walls seem to be closing on the fiery populist leader who typically criticized those who dared to question her management and ethics. In the past week, a federal prosecutor has asked that she be included in a widening investigation into money laundering. Her former transportation secretary and a businessman with close ties to her family were arrested in separate corruption probes that could implicate her. A separate money-laundering probe into hotels owned by her family has been relaunched.
To top it off, she has been called to testify Wednesday in an alleged scheme to manipulate Argentina’s currency, marking the first time she has been legally summoned in an investigation against her.
“This has happened all of a sudden,” said Sergio Berensztein, a local political analyst and pollster. “Four months ago, Cristina (Fernandez) was still one of the most powerful people in Argentina.”
But then, she was succeeded in the presidency in December by a conservative political rival, Mauricio Macri, the former Buenos Aires mayor and son of one of the country’s richest businessmen.