Argentina's former VP arrested on corruption charges

Amado Boudou, Argentina's vice president under Cristina Kirchner, was arrested Friday on charges including money laundering and hiding undeclared assets, court sources said.

Judge Ariel Lijo ordered his arrest in a case initially brought in 2012. Boudou was economy minister from 2009-2011, then served as vice president from 2011 until Kirchner left office in December 2015.

Lijo said that Boudou, 54, "had been enriched unjustifiably during the exercise of public duties."

The judge cited tax return anomalies, the 2010 purchase of a Buenos Aires apartment by his former girlfriend, and the unclear source of tens of thousands of dollars in income.

The arrest comes as Kirchner herself on Thursday lost a legal appeal against corruption charges, with a high court saying the prosecution's case against her can go ahead.

The federal appeals court upheld a previous ruling that Kirchner, 64, must answer charges of criminal association and fraud that stem from her 2007-2015 term in office.

Kirchner, however, enjoys parliamentary immunity from jail if convicted, having become a senator-elect in polls held last month. She says the charges are politically motivated.

Kirchner's former planning minister, Julio de Video, was arrested two weeks ago on corruption charges after Congress stripped him of his parliamentary immunity.

A former deputy public works minister, Jose Lopez, is also facing charges after being caught by police trying to hide $9 million in cash in a Buenos Aires convent earlier this year.

Source:AFP