Businessmen Leonardo Fariña and Federico Elaskar were indicted yesterday by Federal Judge Sebastián Casanello for money laundering in the same case in which Kirchnerite businessman Lázaro Báez is being investigated.

Fariña, model Karina Jelinek’s former husband, once dreamed of becoming rich and famous but now the case involving him and 29-year-old Elaskar has turned into something closer to a nightmare as Casanello yesterday decided to indict Fariña for five counts of money laundering while Elaskar was charged with eight.

Both are accused of taking part in millionaire financial operations aimed at whitewashing funds and of using money from illicit activities. Amid all the bad news, Elaskar and Fariña could breathe a sigh of relief about one thing: the judge did not order preventive prison for none of them.

According to Casanello, Fariña whitewashed more than 30 million pesos — and Elaskar more than 25 million pesos — by purchasing high-end cars, properties, land, companies and financial transactions.

Casanello based his indictment in the businessmen’s unjustified capital gains, the lack of previous economic and commercial activities and the possible involvement in criminal activities. The magistrate ordered the seizure of 32 million pesos from Fariña’s assets and 27 million pesos from Elaskar.

Casanello also ordered to seize the apartment where Fariña once lived with Jelinek, a BMW and a Ferrari, a property in Mendoza province and shares in three companies suspected of taking part in the illicit financial manoeuvres.

The legal inquiry was launched in April last year following the broadcast of Clarín media group’s TV programme Periodismo para Todos hosted by journalist Jorge Lanata. In that programme, Fariña and Elaskar acknowledged that they used the financial firm SGI — owned by Elaskar — to launder 50 million euros that belonged to Báez. They claimed the millions were taken abroad. Hours after the programme was aired, Elaskar and Fariña said that they had lied to the cameras.

However after hundreds of testimonies and raids, Judge Casanello considered that Fariña and Elaskar “were linked to people involved in criminal activities” and that they had laundered money by purchasing numerous properties.

Regarding Fariña, the judge highlighted that it was unusual for a 25 year-old to be able to buy two high-end cars in a year, even though the AFIP tax bureau had no record of him as a tax payer.

Fariña could only prove a salary of 6,400 pesos and he said he had a BMW X6 van, a Ferrari, an apartment located on Libertador avenue, five properties in Mendoza and a Mercedes Benz.

“The peculiarity of his media profile is that it started with a big and glamorous bang among celebrity high-flyers, and he regularly appeared in the arts and media section of newspapers, only to end up in the police and court sections,” Casanello wrote.

The judge linked Fariña to businessman Carlos Molinari and Roberto Jaime Erusalimsky, who were also summoned to appear before the court by the end of this month.

For instance, Fariña paid US$5 million in cash for the properties in Mendoza province and then sold them for US$1.8 million to Erusalimsky.

For his part, Molinari is involved in the sale of the Ferrari car and his company is reported to have paid Fariña and Jelinek’s wedding party, which cost two million pesos.

Kirchnerite media businessman Báez was yesterday removed from a legal investigation in a case that tied him with alleged extortion against Elaskar to force him to sell SGI.

The decision was taken by Judge Casanello, after Prosecutor Guillermo Marijuán had requested to disassociate Báez as he had no evidence linking him with the case.

This case was sparked by suspended prosecutor José María Campagnoli.