Luxury trip scandal: Insaurralde leaves councilor race and faces charges

Opposition coalition members filed criminal complaints against Axel Kicillof’s former chief of staff

Martín Insaurralde has dropped out of the race to be a Unión por la Patria (UxP) councilor for Lomas de Zamora in the wake of the scandal over his luxury trip to Marbella, Spain, with model Sofía Clerici.

Insaurralde resigned his position as Axel Kicillof’s chief of staff in the government of Buenos Aires Province on Saturday, saying he didn’t want his image “used to harm the coalition during electoral times.” Kicillof immediately accepted his resignation.

Insaurralde’s spokesperson confirmed to the Herald that he was dropping out of the candidacy on Monday morning.

On Saturday, Clerici posted Instagram stories showing Insaurralde with her on a luxury yacht, claiming they were in Marbella. The date of the trip is unclear yet since Clerici has been posting pictures of herself in the yacht over the past week. Insaurralde was harshly criticized for going on the trip days before Sunday’s presidential debate ahead of the October 22 elections, and after the poverty rate was published — it reached 40.1% in the first semester of 2023.

The images and videos shared by Clerici caused a political storm that even reached Sunday night’s presidential debate, with UxP candidate Sergio Massa saying Insaurralde should drop out of the candidacy, saying “he made a big mistake” by going on the luxury trip with Clerici.

On Monday morning, members from opposition coalition Juntos por el Cambio (JxC) and La Libertad Avanza (LLA) filed criminal complaints against Insaurralde, accusing him of illicit enrichment and money laundering.

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JxC National Deputy Ricardo López Murphy and senatorial candidate María Eugenia Talerico called for the Lomas de Zamora court to investigate Insaurralde’s income. Talerico said in an interview on Radio Mitre on Monday morning that they claim his lifestyle doesn’t match his declared estate and pointed to his recent divorce agreement with his ex-wife, Jésica Cirio. Cirio announced their separation a month ago, after 10 years of marriage.

LLA National Deputy José Luis Espert filed his own complaint before the Federal Justice at the Comodoro Py court, against both Insaurralde and Clerici for money laundering, contraband, and tax evasion.

“We are before a sumptuous spending, which neither the public officer nor the lady that accompanied him can justify with their declared income,” Espert’s legal complaint claims. “Therefore, the suspicion over illicit enrichment is big, or maybe we are going to find out about financial assets laundering, or at least tax evasion from Sofía Clerici.”

Both JxC and LLA also asked the judiciary to investigate if the expensive bags, watches, and bracelets Clerici shows in her Instagram posts were declared in Customs or how she was able to afford them. Clerici addressed the fact that her Instagram account featured luxury items on Monday, claiming that none of what she shared had been paid for by Insaurralde. 

“I’ve always had valuable things […] I’ve been working since I was young, and I’ve always had wealthy boyfriends,” she said in an Instastory.

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