New revelations underscore Edgardo Kueider's connection to a corruption case

New evidence further implicates Edgardo Kueider in the "Securitas" case "He knows how to collect," Jorge González, one of those charged in the "Securitas" case, says in one of the chats. He is talking about a person who "sneaked into" the office that Edgardo Kueider occupied in the National Senate in 2023. Seven months remained before his arrest in Paraguay after attempting to enter with USD 200,000 undeclared. The message, obtained by Infobae, is part of the evidence accumulating in the investigation being conducted in the Federal Court of San Isidro. The inquiry focuses on the bribes that the multinational security company allegedly paid to agencies and public companies. The goal was to secure the contracts to provide surveillance services at those locations. The court file was opened following an audit of the firm and a self-report filed by the company implicating former executives. It is being handled by the Federal Criminal and Correctional Court presided over by Sandra Arroyo Salgado. Among the public agencies tainted by the scheme are Aysa, Senasa, Renaper, and Anmac. Also included is the Entre Ríos state power company Enersa. Kueider was the representative of the Executive Branch's shares in the company while he served as Secretary General of the Governor's Office (2015-2019). Jorge González, at an official event, alongside former governor Gustavo Bordet The Justice system suspects that the former legislator was one of those who used his position of power in the government and at Enersa to obtain personal benefits. Jorge González, whose phone was seized at the time of his arrest last year, was president of the power company between 2017 and 2021. The irregularities are believed to have occurred during this period. The expert analyses performed on the device yielded the exchanges that further implicate Kueider in the scheme. Until now, the former senator's connection to the "Securitas" case was limited to a message recovered from Claudio Tortul's cell phone. Tortul is one of the businessmen linked to the multinational security company, identified as one of the main architects of the scheme in Entre Ríos. The other is his brother Marcelo. In an exchange between the two, Claudio wrote: "Q prepare pliego yo hablo cn el Turco Cuaider (no se como se escribe) va a estar a cargo de eso" (sic). "Cuaider" is Kueider. The then Secretary General of Gustavo Bordet's Governor's Office "sabe porque estaba de Concordia" (sic), he added in a subsequent message. The former senator tried to distance himself from the case with several successive arguments. First, that they were not talking about him, but about another person. Second, that on the day that chat took place (June 7, 2017), he was in Paraná and not in Concordia, even though the message is in the past tense, not the present. Third, that his role in the company was formal. It was limited to representing the Executive Branch at annual assemblies and he had no decision-making power over contracts, he argued. The messages found on González's phone show a different reality. Two things are made clear. The first is that Kueider had direct influence over Enersa's business dealings. The second is that this influence persisted even after he swapped his office in the Governor's Office for one in Congress. The chats that implicate Edgardo Kueider in the "Securitas" case The most revealing of the exchanges is the one he had with someone registered in his phone as "Andrea Sobrina Gchu." The transcript is as follows: Chat with "Andrea sobrina Gchu (abbreviation for Gualeguaychú)". May 17, 2023. Between 8:27 p.m. and 9:01 p.m. - (Andrea) Uncle (I'm) Here in Kueider's office and Ramiro Caminos snuck in on me Is he in your spot? - (González) Yes, he knows about energy like I know French He knows how to collect… Ramiro Castillo was president of Enersa after González's departure and until the end of Bordet's term. Before that, he had been the company's trustee. He replaced José Gervasio Laporte, alias "El Negro," who has passed away. Laporte is mentioned in the "Securitas" case. Infobae revealed that on January 28, 2019, in an email that emerged from the expert analyses, Claudio Tórtul spoke of "paying Bordet's share." "Then we'll do the deal, if I told him that next week we have to pay Bordet's share, El Negro's is with the car," the email sent to Ramiro (Claudio's son) and Marcelo Tórtul concluded. Indeed, Laporte received a car for his efforts. It was a Toyota Etios that is mentioned in the chats from the phones seized from the Tortul brothers. The same day he sent that email, Claudio told Marcelo via WhatsApp that he was having lunch with "El Negro" (Laporte) at his house and they agreed on a meeting for the next day at his office. "Right when (just then) El Negro was leaving, he asked me when Bord's money is coming…," the businessman wrote at 7:39 p.m. In an earlier exchange, from December 13, 2016, other alleged bribe payments and additional players are mentioned. "I'm going to approach Christian. Bc I raised enersa because epe went down. Grease Christian and Bordet or El Negro. Because what we're going to put together is big. And have them reach an agreement between him and el negro or Bordet" (sic), Claudio Tórtul wrote on December 13 of that year, in the afternoon hours. "Christian" could be Jorge Christian Faía, former president of Securitas Argentina. Other sources say he was referring to Cristian Mayor, former executive of Enersa and union leader of Luz y Fuerza. González also appears in the chats In February 2020, it had been two months and some days since Kueider had left the Secretary General's office to take up his Senate seat for Entre Ríos. Nevertheless, he is cited as a decisive factor in a conversation between González and a person identified as "Jorge Pérez 2." The transcript is as follows: Chat with "Jorge Pérez 2". February 20, 2020. Between 1:45 p.m. and 1:47 p.m. - (Pérez) Hello dear Jorge, thanks for the info, perfect, now you're meeting with Claudio, if so let me know how you want it to operate. (sic) - (González) At 3 p.m. we're going with Kueider, if it seems good to you, once the meeting is over I'll let you know to see what and how we proceed. (sic) The suspicion is that the person identified as "Claudio" is Claudio Tortul. In the Entre Ríos Government House, they believe "Pérez 2" could be a local businessman who is alleged to have influence over important appointments at Enersa. The role of the then senator and his influence over the Entre Ríos state company was demonstrated in another message from González. In a conversation with someone he calls "Juan Martín," the company's president invoked Kueider to arrange a meeting. The verbatim text is as follows: Chat with "Juan Martín". December 23, 2020. Between 2:43 p.m. and 2:46 p.m. - (González) Good day Juan Martín, Edgardo Kueider gave me your number, I give (am) Jorge González from Enersa. If it seems good to you, let's set it for Tuesday the 29th at 11 a.m. at Enersa, Bs. As. 87, Paraná. Jorge González was arrested by order of Arroyo Salgado on April 12, 2025. During the raid, Gendarmerie seized 270,974 dollars, 12,000 euros, and nearly 700,000 pesos. He was taken to the Ezeiza prison. At first, he refused to testify. But he was later released, changed lawyers, and agreed to be questioned. According to the site Análisis Digital, he asked the judge to summon other Enersa officials, denied having had any relationship with the Tortuls, and distanced himself from the Securitas contract.