Vulture Fund wants Kicillof and other former K officials to testify in New York for Indec manipulation

The vulture fund Aurelius Capital Master requires Axel Kicillof, Hernán Lorenzino and other former K officials to testify under oath in a New York court in the case of alleged manipulation of Indec data during Cristina Kirchner.

Aurelius Capital Master is seeking assistance from the Court of The Hague to, through the Argentine court, order the officials named on the list to testify under oath in a New York court in the case of the PBI Coupon and the alleged ‘y manipulation of Indec.

From the list of more than 16 names presented last night by bondholders to Loretta Preska – who succeeded the late Thomas Griesa – the names of former Economy Ministers, Hernán Lorenzino and Axel Kicillof stand out; the former Secretary of Finance, Sergio Chodos, Argentina’s current representative before the International Monetary Fund (IMF); former Vice Minister Emmanuel Alvarez Agis; and Juan Cuatrommo, former undersecretary of economic programming and current president of Banco Provincia.

They demand that two former INDEC directors during the Cristina Kirchner government, who are also being investigated by Argentine federal justice, Norberto Itzcovich and Fernando Cerro, be summoned as well.

By the end of 2021, a New York federal court headed by Preska ruled that Argentina should disclose the methodology used by Indec to measure economic activity in 2013, in the second term of the CFK.

“It is part of the Discovery ordered by Judge Loretta Preska. Argentina is not complying and that is why they are going to The Hague. If they continue not to comply, the country could be declared in contempt and the consequences are even greater,” the economist and international analyst Sebastián Maril, who published (as usual) the news.

The judicial decision relates to the case initiated against Argentina, in the United States, by Aurelius Capital Management, due to Argentina’s method of calculating GDP. For his part, Aurelius had to present those documents in court try buying Argentine securities issued in dollars after debt restructuring.

The demands of the Aurelius Capital Master

Aurelius Capital vulture fund presentations are no longer new. In March 2020, for example, it was demonstrated two new lawsuits, for US $ 252 million, in the New York courts against Argentina, for non-payment of GDP-linked debt coupons from swaps in 2005 and 2010.

Aurelius considers that the country violated its contract by not paying him for the coupon, arguing that they were subject to manipulation of public statistics when INDEC intervened.

According to the plaintiffs, that was previously announced by Economy Minister Axel Kicillof GDP in 2013 grew by 4.9%. One month later, reported due to review of accounts (base change from 1993 to 2004)the growth became 2.9%.

The funds aim to recoup the amounts they deem they should charge for those coupons, as they contend that economic growth numbers were manipulated with Indec intervention.

In 2005, the trigger for the payment was a growth of 4% and GDP grew 9%, while over the next seven years Argentina grew by an average of 7%, with a trigger of 3.5%, according to data released by Bloomberg.

Aurelius’ request for payment of the GDP coupon, valued at US $ 1,200 millionis not just one, there are seven other funds that go the same way.

The National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INDEC) He underwent surgery between 2007 and 2015. In other words, at the beginning of 2007 the government headed by Néstor Kirchner changed the authorities of the institute.

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