They are seeking up to 17 years in prison for former Vicentin executives and the company says this will affect the payment plan

Surprisingly, at midday on the last working day of the year, 12 former managers of the agro-exporter Vicentin were accused of fraud and illicit association, with requests up to 17 years in prisonsecond A 532 page lawsuit presented by the Economic Criminal Prosecutor’s Office of Rosario.

THE accused, and the years of the request for conviction in each case, are as follows: Roberto Gazze (17), Daniel Buyatti (16); Alberto Macua (16); Omar Scarel (14); Martino Colombo (13); Massimo Padoan (12); Cristian Padoan (10); Sergio Roberto Vicentino (10); Pedro German Vicentin (10); Yanina Boschi (10); Javier Gazze (8) and Miguel Vallaza (8).

THE prosecutors Miguel Moreno and Sebastián Narvaja They believe that “the cessation of payments is not due to a commercial problem arising from the national economic context, as the company claims, but rather is the result of illegal maneuvers by the board of directors who falsified the documentation (financial statements) to obtain credits and grains.” knowing that they were not in a financial condition to repay loans or pay for goods.”

In this sense, the trustees were also accused Ernesto Garcia, Diego Telesco and Carlos Amut, and the director of the consultancy firm KPMG Argentina, Eduardo Harnan. A 7-year prison sentence was requested for the four for alleged cover-up in the evaluation and approval of the company’s financial statements.

Writing is a party indictment expanding charges filed in late 2021 and early 2023and it will be accompanied – certainly in February, after the judicial fair in January – by the denunciation of those who presented themselves as victims (the companies that delivered grain and the banks that lent money).

However, more than 4 years have passed since the agro-exporter declared himself in default (December 2019), Vicentin’s lawyers believe that the accusation is unfounded and only seeks to hinder the progress of the competition.

“From the beginning of the commercial process to resolve the debt, large criminal issues were presented, which “They have always tried to stop the progress of the bankruptcy that has garnered the consent of the majority legally established by the Bankruptcy and Bankruptcy Law.”declared the criminal lawyer Jorge Ilharrescondoin charge of Vicentin’s defense in this case.

Moreno stated that “in 2017, planning was started aimed at simulating the financial and accounting balance of Vicentin, hiding liabilities, in order to obtain credit lines, obtain disbursements from banks, continue with the acquisition and ‘cereal collection’.

Ilharrescondo interpreted that “they are trying to criminalize a commercial issue. A debt is not the same as a scam. In this case it is clear that they tried to settle scores until the last day. If you plan a scam, stop paying as soon as you start asking for money. We even ascertained that the money obtained from the sale of part of Renova was used to pay off debts with some creditors.”

And he recalled “the failed searches, the arrest of Omar Scarel (when he was president of Vicentin), the request for summons to the Santa Fe court, the request for suspension of the bankruptcy trustees, among other procedural obstacles that have no precedent in because of their greatness and insistence, which were always raised at transcendent moments for the competition.

Alike, Estanislao Bougaincurrent director of the company, reported that “once again, when the Chamber’s file is organized and ready to pronounce a sentence – it is understood that in the line that we have been pursuing since the beginning – this strong accusation against former directors appears.. .

He assured it “The bankruptcy case is sufficiently complete to be approved. The Chamber Prosecutor’s Office and the Receivership have expressed the opinion that there are no exceptions to take into consideration and that the payment proposal is solid and has a direct relationship with the value of the assets, therefore we do not see any inconvenience for the tender approved the first days of February”.

How are Vicetin’s operations going today?

Bougain specified that “the company’s situation on this last day of the year is similar to that of the last 4 years: no post-bankruptcy liabilities, no labor lawsuits, with updated and correct payments. In addition to that, we have renewed service contracts with Strategic Stakeholderswhich expired on January 27, and whose extension was signed and presented in the file, valid until July 31, 2024, with which we guaranteed the funds to also pay the bankruptcy costs.

He emphasized that he was “maximum expected production of Vicentin, both in the cereal milling and ethanol areas for the whole of 2024, for which we have guaranteed cost coverage and that we will not face any major vicissitudes over the next year.”