It received a new judicial setback, a key piece in the investigation that unleashed an earthquake in the Property Registry and in the Provincial Cadastre Directorate, due to the irregular sale and registration of dozens of plots of land, within the framework of the operation of a alleged illicit association.
It is about the clerk Gladys Dionisia Báez, arrested in the framework of said investigation by the Justice of Corrientes and in the framework of which seven people were arrested last week, including the director of the Registry of Property and Real Estate of the Province, María Eugenia Demetrio, and the head of the Cadastre Directorate, Narciso Toffoletti.
Now, the Superior Court of Justice rejected the appeals filed by Gladys Dionisia Báez, who at the time had been sanctioned by the Association of Notaries for breach of the rules that govern the exercise of the notarial function.
The disciplinary sanction was applied within the framework of the provisions of the Notary Law, due to the alleged irregularities detected in the granting and authorization of a private document dated August 29, 2011. In that document, the parents of a child, in exercise of parental authority, gave express agreement and authorization so that their son can travel in the company of his uncles who lived in Buenos Aires jointly, separately or alternatively throughout the territory of the Argentine Republic and neighboring countries. In addition, they gave him custody and appointed them guardians of the little one.
The board of directors of the Association of Notaries, to establish the disciplinary sanction, explained that by certifying that document, the professional committed a fault in the exercise of her notarial function because what was signed by the child’s parents contradicted the norms of the Civil Code.
Prosecutor of the case
On the other hand, on Tuesday, Gustavo Roubineau, the district attorney for Instruction No. 6 of the Capital, who is involved in the case, gave a radio interview. “We want to get to the bottom of this whole organization,” he stressed.
In this sense, he pointed out that in this land mega-scam, “we are talking about more than 20 files of ordinary citizens who woke up from one day to the next and found out that their properties had other owners,” he stressed.
He also indicated that the land with irregular sales “are from different areas”, such as “about 5 thousand hectares in Loreto, land in Riachuelo, Capital and the famous subdivision on the access route to Santa Ana. There are different properties.”
“The responsibility of Notary Báez is also very clear here, I can affirm it, regarding the way in which she handled her protocol. A notary public has to be not only neat, but also extremely careful with the documents that she authorizes and then registers. what you see here is a disaster,” Roubineau remarked, speaking to radio Continental Corrientes, on the “Corrientes en el Aire” program.
In this context, he did not rule out that there could be more arrests.
So far, in addition to María Eugenia Demetrio and Narciso Toffoletti, Pedro Verón, Wilda Bergna Velazco, María Correa de Ríos, Mercedes Aróstegui and Mercedes Arce remain in custody.
In this regard, the prosecutor confirmed that there are five requests for release that are following the usual procedures, “as in any process,” he said.
The two who have not yet filed that petition would be Toffoletti and Arce.
Last week, the detainees attended a hearing at the Investigating Court No. 3 and were informed of the accusations before Judge Josefina González Cabañas. Only one of the seven decided to testify. The rest, silence.
On the other hand, according to Roubineau’s estimate: “There are more than 15 defendants because there are other causes that have to do with citizens who appeared after the first round of arrests and when it became known that it would be irregular actions by the notary Báez” .
Roubineau also emphasized that “the investigation did not arise from a complaint from the Land Registry or the Cadastre. This arose from the investigation by the Judiciary. We, since 2019, have had a complaint from the successors of Julio Romero (former governor of Corrientes), in which they reported that a person had appeared in their fields saying that he was the new owner, invoking a property title that was apparently legal, issued by registry authorities,” he said.
Deputies request clarification
Deputies from the Frente de Todos bloc expressed their concern regarding the legal cases investigating the irregularities of the General Directorate of Cadastre and the Real Estate Registry.
Through two legislative projects, they seek that the lower house is issued and summon the Minister of Treasury and Finance, Marcelo Rivas Piasentini, to internalize the legislators.
“The seriousness of the facts warrants this request for interpellation to request a report, regarding the normal functioning of the agencies, investigations that are being carried out within them due to possible complicity of other officials and employees,” they said.