The largest corruption case in Argentina’s history, known as the “Bribe Books” (“Cuadernos de las Coimas”) case, began its public trial on November 6. The investigation targeted high-profile political and business figures that allegedly participated in a large-scale bribery scheme between 2003 and 2015, with former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner at its helm.
How Did the Case Begin?
The case broke in 2018, when notebooks handwritten by Oscar Centeno — former driver for Roberto Baratta, the right-hand man of then–Planning Minister Julio De Vido — were leaked to the press. In them, Centeno described in detail how business executives bribed government officials during the Kirchner administrations in exchange for public works contracts and concessions.
Who Is Involved?
Centeno’s eight notebooks outline the alleged bribery scheme’s modus operandi, through his daily record of trips he made for the Planning Ministry for more than a decade. He detailed routes, times, names, companies, and even the weight of supposed bags of cash.
In one of the most widely circulated excerpts in local media, Centeno mentions Fernández de Kirchner at the top of the pyramid, writing: “In a meeting between Minister De Vido, Baratta, and Mrs. President Cristina F. de Kirchner, … she instructed them to continue collecting from the companies for the upcoming electoral campaigns.”
Below the former president, according to the investigation, were De Vido — allegedly in charge of organizing the operation — and Baratta, who reportedly coordinated the delivery of cash from some of Argentina’s most powerful businesspeople, with the help of former Public Works officials Nelson Lazarte and José López.
The sprawling case involves nearly one hundred former officials and executives. It advanced largely thanks to the testimony of more than twenty defendants who turned state’s witness under Argentina’s “Law of Repentance,” which reduces sentences for those who cooperate with justice. Their statements and evidence strengthened the investigation.
SEE ALSO: Notebooks and Plea Deals: New Weapons Against Corruption in Argentina?
Among those who confessed to participating in the bribery-for-contracts network were Héctor Alberto Zabaleta, former Techint executive; Ángel Calcaterra, cousin of former President Mauricio Macri and former owner of the construction company Iecsa; Juan Carlos De Goycoechea, former director of the Spanish construction firm Isolux in Argentina; Claudio Uberti, former Planning Ministry official; José López, former secretary of Public Works; and Víctor Fabián Gutiérrez, Fernández de Kirchner’s former private secretary.
What Are the Charges?
The trial covers 304 acts of corruption under six criminal classifications: illicit association, concealment, giving and receiving unlawful gratuities, and active and passive bribery. According to prosecutor Carlos Stornelli and the late judge Claudio Bonadio, the total amount collected in bribes could exceed $200 million.
In their statements, the cooperating defendants detailed how the scheme worked and the benefits they received. Miguel Aznar, former president of the construction and engineering firm Decavial S.A., admitted to paying bribes to secure contracts and highway concessions in 2003.
Aldo Roggio, former president of Grupo Roggio — which controls Metrovías S.A., operator of the Buenos Aires subway and the Urquiza Railway — said he was required to return 5% of the transport subsidies his company received.
Carlos Wagner, former president of the construction and engineering company Esuco and of Argentina’s Chamber of Construction (CAC), also confessed and had an undeclared Swiss account with $20 million frozen.
What Irregularities Surround the Case?
The main irregularity is that the case began without the original notebooks. Centeno’s eight notebooks were neither seized by court order nor handed over directly by him.
Journalist Diego Cabot, who said he received the notebooks from Centeno’s friend Jorge Bacigalupo, gave copies to prosecutor Carlos Stornelli in April 2018, which marked the beginning of the case.
Stornelli later forwarded the copies to Judge Claudio Bonadio, who took over the investigation. In Argentina, judges assigned to each case are typically selected through a random draw conducted by the Federal Chamber once a complaint has been filed. The fact that the material went through Stornelli, rather than straight to the judge, raised questions about the legality of how the case began. What’s more, Stornelli’s involvement sparked controversy given his reputation: although never formally charged, he has been accused of bias in several of his cases.
When the judge asked Cabot for the original notebooks, he said he no longer had them, and Centeno claimed to have burned them. Later, six of the eight reappeared in Cabot’s possession, reportedly handed over by an anonymous source.
A forensic report by the National Gendarmerie confirmed that Centeno was indeed the author but determined that there were roughly 1,500 alterations, including overwrites, erasures, correction fluid, abrasive or chemical deletions, and insertions.
How Have the Main Defendants Responded?
In September 2025, ahead of the trial, nearly 50 business executives charged in the case offered more than $13 million in “comprehensive damage reparations,” a legal mechanism under Argentina’s penal code that allows financial compensation in exchange for dismissal of charges — but the offer was rejected.
Prosecutor Fabiana León argued that accepting such payments would have meant “opening a market for impunity” and undermining state accountability.
If convicted, the executives could face one to six years in prison, fines equal to or greater than the bribes paid, asset seizures, and disqualification from participating in public contracts or bids for at least 10 years.
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s lawyer, Gregorio Dalbón, argued that, as in the “Vialidad Case” — for which the former president is under house arrest — this is “political persecution” and that “the verdict has already been written.”
Fernández de Kirchner has already been indicted in ten cases, five of which have gone to trial. If convicted in the Bribe Books case, she could face between five and 18 years in prison.
What Does This Case Reveal About Organized Crime?
The Bribe Books trial exposes Argentina’s deep vulnerability to systemic corruption in public tenders and contracts that tie top-level politicians and businesspeople to dynamics typical of organized crime.
In this web, corruption functions as a criminal economy, with hierarchies, intermediaries, and financial flows comparable to other illicit activities that depend on networks with privileged access to the state apparatus.
SEE ALSO: Details Emerge on ‘Dinero K’ Corruption Scheme in Argentina
But high-level corruption scandals in Argentina are nothing new. Other former presidents, such as Carlos Saúl Menem and Fernando De la Rúa, have been investigated, but none have faced a public trial of this scale.
Regardless of the outcome, the case highlights how porous the line between politics and crime remains and how state capture mechanisms continue to operate with the same logic of impunity seen elsewhere in Latin America.
The high-profile Odebrecht case — a corporate bribery network that operated in at least twelve Latin American countries to secure public contracts — and Guatemala’s “Cooptation of the State” case, which implicated former President Otto Pérez Molina for allegedly favoring companies that financed his campaign illegally, are just two examples of a broader, deeper problem.