The recordings that complicate Lázaro Báez and reveal how he operated from prison to manage his properties

EL CALAFATE.- Lázaro Báez continued operating from prison, giving instructions, managing rental contracts, claiming payments, agreeing on the sale and purchase of livestock, and directing what to do with the staff: his right-hand man, Cristian Ibáñez, and his partner, Claudia Insaurralde, receive instructions; even from the phone conversations with his right-hand man, it is evident that the businessman close to the Kirchners distrusted even her. LA NACION accessed the judicial wiretaps within the framework of the case for money laundering and drug trafficking. In his cell, Báez, who claimed he should be present during the raid, was detained for at least 25 hours, and a notebook was seized detailing the operations he was carrying out; in some, he wrote in his own hand, highlighting names; furthermore, he detailed a list of suppliers, lawyers, and accounts "of the last president." Notes and a notebook from Báez. "I am the owner of the story, not my family, nor the other lawyers," Báez maintains in one of the audios accessed by this medium. For Ibáñez, Báez is "the uncle" and Insaurralde is "the aunt." Except when Báez tells his right-hand man that he has to come see him at the Ezeiza prison ("you have to come see me"), the businessman does not seem like a prisoner at liberty with a unified 15-year sentence, but rather someone who gives orders and instructions on how to organize a scheme of illicit operations that the justice system is currently trying to discern. The wiretaps of Báez's conversations with his second, Ibáñez, alias "Budín," are part of the hearing that lasted until night, in which the Federal Judge of Guarantees, Claudio Marcelo Vázquez, formalized the investigation against 16 people in the two related cases for money laundering and drug trafficking: nine were given preventive detention and one was given house arrest. Among them are Lázaro Báez, Claudia Insaurralde, and Cristian Ibáñez. "The aunt thinks that because she puts people she wants, she will do what she wants; watch out for that," Báez warns Ibáñez, alias "Budín," in another audio. "The aunt" is Claudia Insaurralde, Báez's partner, who lives between Buenos Aires and Río Gallegos, and who, along with Ibáñez, allegedly managed the assets, judging by the notes she left in notebooks that were seized at a residence in Río Gallegos. From the repeated audios, Báez distrusted his partner of seven years and gave Ibáñez instructions regarding Insaurralde: "Tell her, the uncle told me, to put the person who was managing La Entrerriana and who is managing La Entrerriana, put one of your trusted people to do the work and I will supervise both sides." The notes Báez made and that were seized in his cell in Ezeiza. So far, the judicial investigation, known as "Case 169831/26," has documented movements involving about $390 million pesos in eight months, according to the data presented in the judicial hearings requested by the Río Gallegos Fiscal Unit, led by Federal Prosecutor Julio Zárate, which lasted nearly ten hours. Some of the evidence that emerged from the raids demonstrates how Insaurralde documented every step she took, who she met, and whom she appointed. Ibáñez and Insaurralde share photos and even a joint call. However, it is clear that there is distrust: "If she is desperate, she should call me and tell me what she needs, and tell her: 'If you are desperate for something, call him and tell him what you need and stop making messes because you will get us all into the same mess,' he told me, if she is not going to fire all the people she appointed to be in charge of Agro." "Tomorrow the aunt is going to go see you: tell her I'll tell you about Gregores, I left her a message because I am seeing about getting some things out of Gregores... you have to give the okay," Ibáñez tells Báez, who asks: "What number option is Gregores? 20, 30, 40?" In addition to Ibáñez and Insaurralde, Fausto Ignacio Devetac, Paula Beatriz Godfrid, Mauro Gastón Trevisan Godfrid, Diego Ernesto Navarro, Oscar Raúl Núñez, Valentina Micaela Devetac, Jorge Manuel Ulloa, and Jorge Elías Agustín Agüero were indicted. They, along with Ibáñez, are the links in the two cases, according to the judicial investigators. Ibáñez is a local producer convicted in cases of theft, for whom 1,000 sheep were stolen in 2014. After being charged with other crimes, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison. But his sentence was reduced and he had been free since 2023. With Núñez as an interlocutor, Ibáñez speaks of a business with warehouses that supposedly belonged to Báez, as can be seen in another judicial wiretap: "It doesn't matter if there is a little bit left, he lends it to you and signs everything for you to register, everything through a notary," Ibáñez assures Núñez. The judge authorized the expansion of precautionary measures over the assets, which include seizure and inhibition of assets, freezing of financial assets, and affecting rental fees. He also ordered requests for corporate information and extended the raids in rural establishments, where livestock is monitored and counted. He also ordered a copy of the resolution to be sent to three federal oral courts in Capital Federal and to the Criminal Chamber of Santa Cruz, regarding the case in which Núñez was convicted. Nine people were given preventive detention for 180 days, including Báez—who is already serving his own prison time—Insaurralde, Ibáñez, Fausto Devetac, Ulloa, Agustín Agüero, and Núñez, who were also prohibited from communicating with other involved parties, while Paula Bórquez will serve preventive detention at her home; with the corresponding documentation, she can go to work and take her daughter to daycare. Six defendants remain free under restrictions. Silva and Herrera must promise to submit to the process and not communicate with other involved parties. Valentina Devetac, Paula Godfrid, Mauro Trevisan Godfrid, and Diego Navarro also have the obligation to appear at the Judicial Office—weekly for Devetac and Navarro, every two weeks for Godfrid and Trevisan Godfrid, who work on a farm outside the city—and cannot leave the country without authorization. The two hearings took place on the same day and there are four common defendants: Ibáñez, Valentina Micaela Devetac (his detained partner, free and now released), Jorge Manuel Ulloa, and Jorge Elías Agustín Agüero. In the first hearing investigating drug trafficking and money laundering, Agustín Agüero, Juan Pablo Bórquez, Ulloa, Pedro Nahuel Leal, Ibáñez, Paula Makarena Bórquez, José Ariel Silva, Aldo Rubén Herrera, and Valentina Devetac were indicted. For the first eight, he attributed being part of an organization dedicated to the trafficking of narcotics and money laundering. He attributed a secondary participation to Devetac. According to the request, the organization marketed 66.43 grams of cocaine to Gonzalo Agustín García Bistritsky, which were found on December 22, 2025, during a raid at his home. It also allegedly sold 439.88 grams to Carlos Mauricio Audicio, whose drugs appeared on April 9, 2026, when the police conducted a visual inspection at his home after finding his lifeless body, by order of Provincial Court No. 3. The third incident is the most recent: on November 10, during the raid on Leal's house, 1,305 grams of cannabis sativa and 725 grams of cocaine were seized, which the Prosecutor's Office considers destined for sale. The money laundering chapter is supported by assets and money movements. Ibáñez is accused of having bought a VW Amarok for $65,000,000 in August 2025, without formal economic activity to justify it, and a 1994 Ford F150 for $5,000,000, which he transferred in September of this year. Furthermore, he allegedly managed four other vehicles and received transfers from Ulloa and Herrera. Ulloa is accused of buying a Toyota SW4 for $43,000,000 and sending money to Luis Agustín Alcaina, who has been detained since August in another case where 36 kilos of cocaine were seized, and to one of his relatives. Leal, for his part, allegedly made eight transfers of $9,035,000 to four people linked to that same case, including Alcaina. The Prosecutor's Office also pointed to virtual wallets. Between December 1, 2025, and July 7, 2026, Paula Bórquez allegedly managed income of $415,254,149.87 and expenses of $290,471,536.16 without support, and Juan Pablo Bórquez, income of $203,171,812.23 and expenses of $127,575,705.24. Leal is attributed another $84,451,721 in income and $69,205,004.71 in expenses without support. Silva and Agustín Agüero are listed as vehicle administrators, and Herrera as the owner of a Toyota Corolla and sender of transfers to Paula Bórquez and Ulloa. Valentina Devetac is accused of lending her Mercado Pago account to receive $9,670,000 from Ibáñez between December 2025 and October 2026. The Prosecutor's Office maintains that she knew the illicit origin of the funds due to her cohabitation with him, a lifestyle she considered disproportionate, and the lack of legal backing for those movements. The provisional charges are possession for commercial purposes aggravated by the intervention of three or more people, illicit association, and money laundering. By Mariela Arias