After a week in which federal judge Claudio Bonadío took centre stage by ordering a raid on hotel administration company Hotesur, Victory Front (Fpv) senator Marcelo Fuentes has turned the tables on the magistrate by formally accusing him of money laundering, illicit enrichment, abuse of authority and failure to comply with the duties of a public servant.

The accusation follows reports yesterday that circulated in relation to Bonadío's alleged 20 percent holding in Mansue, a service station.

That business is controlled by the judge's relative Carlos Alberto Bonadío, who with 40 percent of stock is a majority shareholder in Mansue. Fernando and Alejandro Climent complete the stockholdings with 20 percent each.

Fuentes' criminal complaint alleges that Bonadío "is not permitted to form part of the business in question, since national justice system regulation do not allow magistrates to participate in commercial or profit-making activities without permission from a higher authority, in this case the National Appeals Court or Federal Criminal Correctional [court]."

"According to the news that has broken into public domain, the firm in which Bonadío is a shareholder has not presented its accounts for 2011 and 2012 to the Justice Ministry's Corporate Records Office, and since the business' financial state is unknown it is also impossible to carry out a thorough analysis of the judge's assets," Fuentes added.

Also citing the fact that Fernando and Alejandro Climent have worked as consultors to private businesses and that alongside Carlos Alberto Bonadío the pair are partners in another service station, Gas Lanús, the senator requested that the judge's assets and their progression be subject to a "profound investigation", in order to determine if Bonadío had experienced an unjustified improvement in his financial well-being.

Fuentes' accusation additionally asks the Financial Information Unit (UIF) to investigate the possibility of money laundering involving the company of which Bonadío is a shareholder.