Lawmakers and senators from across the political spectrum today formed a Bicameral Investigative Committee on capital flight, and resolved to call AFIP president Ricardo Echegaray to give evidence next Wednesday over the ongoing HSBC case.
The committee, headed by lawmaker and Lower House Finance and Budget Committee president Roberto Feletti, also summoned directors of the bank itself to speak on the same day, in an attempt to clarify the status of Argentine accounts held in the Swiss branch of the entity.
Echegaray is expected to give further details on the report which accused HSBC of designing a mechanism to ease the flight of foreign currency from Argentina to undeclared accounts in Switzerland.
The AFIP chief was called to speak before the committee at 2pm on April 1, while the bank representatives will attend at 5pm.
The committee will also begin to investigates companies and individuals linked to the Grupo Clarín media giant, accused by AFIP of moving money overseas. These include:
Cablevisión (The largest pay TV operator in Argentina, with some 3.5 million subscribers. Most of its directors have accounts implicated in the investigation)
Multicanal (Cable TV operator)
Saturnino Herrero Mitjans (Member of the Grupo Clarín board of directors)
Pablo César Casey (Grupo Clarín)
Mariano Marcelo Ibañéz (Cablevisión)
Luis Alberto González Buruki (Cablevisión)
Source: Buenos Aires Herald