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Tags: Argentina, Daily Focus, Menem
An Argentine judge has ruled that former President and current Senator Carlos Menem used funds slotted for national security improvements to overpay government employees, and froze over 100 million pesos ($26.5 million) on his assets.
It is only the latest legal trouble for Menem, who in November 2008 was charged with authorizing the sale of rifles, anti-tank rockets and other weapons to Croatia and Ecuador between 1991 and 1995. Menem, president from 1989 to 1999, claims that the shipments were destined for Panama and Venezuela: legal sales given those nations’ peaceful status at the time.
In both cases, Menem faced little threat of jail time, given the arrest-immunity for current senators.
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