The trial for the Notebooks of Bribes has begun: Cristina Kirchner faces accusations of more than 10 million dollars

The longest judicial process in Argentine history begins with 87 defendants and could last three years

Buenos Aires, November 7, 2025 — This Thursday began the largest oral trial in the history of Argentine corruption: the case of the Cuadernos de las Coimas. The process began after 10 a.m. with former President Cristina Kirchner as the main defendant, along with 86 other defendants. The hearing was held by Zoom because there is no courtroom in the country large enough to host this process.

A system of corruption that operated for 12 years

The indictment alleges that between 2003 and 2015 an illicit association dedicated to the collection of bribes operated, made up of figures such as Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Julio De Vido, Roberto Baratta, Ricardo Jaime, Juan Pablo Schiavi, financier Ernesto Clarens and remisero Oscar Centeno.

The origin of the case dates back to the handwritten notes of Centeno, a driver for the Ministry of Planning, who for years recorded in eight notebooks the trips where he transported officials to collect bribes in companies and take them to destinations such as the Quinta de Olivos and the former president's Recoleta apartment.

The figures of the mega-case

In this first stage of the trial, 40 acts of passive bribery were read totaling more than 10.4 million dollars. However, the process covers 304 of the 540 acts of corruption in the "Notebooks" universe, so the figures could multiply substantially.

The defendants include:

• 22 former officials of the Kirchner government, including Julio De Vido, Roberto Baratta, José López, Ricardo Jaime and Juan Pablo Schiavi
• 65 leading businessmen , representatives of the main public works firms in the country
• The driver Oscar Centeno, who wrote the notebooks

The mechanisms of corruption

In the mechanism under investigation, there are direct payments recorded in Oscar Centeno's notebooks from businessmen to officials and other outsourced through payments received by the financier Ernesto Clarens and the then president of the Argentine Chamber of Construction, Carlos Wagner.

The repentant financier Ernesto Clarens described that the prices of public works were artificially inflated by 20%: that percentage was made up of 10% for bribes and the remaining 10% to generate black money. According to José López, since 2011 the percentages required for the award of works have been reduced to 3%.

The accusations against Cristina Kirchner

The former president is accused of being the head of an illicit association, co-author of 204 passive bribes and a necessary participant in passive bribery. Cristina Kirchner is accused of having been the final beneficiary of at least 38 bribe payments for 17 million dollars.

The indictment alleges that these payments came from businessmen seeking to maintain their public works contracts. During the first day of the trial, the former president participated from her home at 1111 San José, where she is serving a sentence for the Vialidad case, together with her lawyer Carlos Beraldi.

The court and the development of the process

Judges Enrique Méndez Signori, Fernando Canero and Germán Castelli head the court, while Attorney General Fabiana León is in charge of the prosecution.

During the first month of the process, the requirements for elevation to trial will be read, which means presentations and accusations. Then will come the inquiries of the accused.

The trial began with one hearing per week, on Thursdays, but will change pace in March, when two weekly debates will be held. Even so, the process could take three years or more.

The Repentant and the Trials

In the case there are 24 accused collaborators who confirmed the illicit maneuvers, including former officials such as Claudio Uberti, José López and the driver Oscar Centeno, along with renowned businessmen such as Calcaterra, Pescarmona and Roggio.

In 2025, the original notebooks appeared and the expert report confirming that Centeno was indeed the author of those manuscripts was incorporated as evidence. However, in August 2025, an expert report carried out by the Gendarmerie and the Federal Police found that, although the primary writing corresponded to Centeno, more than 1,500 corrections, deletions and adulterations were detected in the notebooks that did not correspond to the driver.

Attempts to avoid judgment

On October 6, 2025, the Federal Oral Court No. 7 rejected the economic offers presented by more than fifty businessmen and former officials, considering that it was not appropriate to apply the figure of "comprehensive reparation" to extinguish the criminal action.

Among the outstanding offers: Ángelo Calcaterra's defense offered more than $2.4 billion to close the case against him, while Benito Roggio proposed another $1.8 billion.

A historic trial in times of Zoom

87 defendants and their defense attorneys met via Zoom for the longest trial in the history of Argentine corruption, with a hearing broadcast on the YouTube channel of the Supreme Court.

The hearing began almost an hour late due to delays by the defendants. During the broadcast, four court clerks took turns reading the first of a series of indictments that will take until the beginning of the summer judicial recess.

The reading of the accusation began with the statement of LA NACION journalist Diego Cabot, who narrated how he received the notebooks of the bribes from Jorge Bacigalupo, a former policeman friend of Centeno who, without notifying him, delivered the documents to the press.

The political context

Cristina Kirchner described the process as "another judicial show" on her social networks before the start of the trial, arguing that it is a distraction while "the future of work and retirements is discussed."

The libertarian government decided not to comment on the trial, and it is expected to be an extensive process that may take about three years to begin to glimpse the stage of the convictions.

The case of the Cuadernos de las Coimas represents a turning point in Argentine judicial history, not only because of the magnitude of the accusations, but also because it brings together for the first time in the same process the most powerful officials of the last decade with the main businessmen who managed the country's public works.

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