Argentine authorities have seized US$569,911 from the home of the model Sofia Clerici in the Nordelta gated community. Thirteen raids were carried out yesterday in the case in which she is being investigated for alleged money laundering and illicit enrichment, together with former Lomas de Zamora mayor Martin Insaurralde and his ex-wife Jésica Cirio.

According to judicial sources, the cash was found in the model’s house. It was counted and seized by order of La Plata federal judge Ernesto Kreplak, who is in charge of the case that is being handled by a Lomas de Zamora federal court.

Also seized were AR$8 million (US$22,857 at the official rate, US$9,203 at the MEP rate), a box of jewelry containing brands such as Tiffany and Louis Vuitton, seven Louis Vuitton handbags, luxury watches, and several electronic devices.

The 13 raids included homes of Insaurralde, Clerici and Cirio in the city of Buenos Aires and the Buenos Aires districts of San Vicente, Banfield and Nordelta.

Clerici was charged after posting photos on her Instagram account of her trip to Marbella, Spain, on a luxury yacht trip with Insaurralde. The model will now have to justify where the cash came from. 

The operations were carried out by the a federal police anti-corruption unit on Kreplak’s orders. The case is investigating Insaurralde’s assets, the Marbella trip, and the details of his divorce with Cirio.

Kreplak has already accessed the immigration records of the accused and ordered the lifting of the banking, financial and stock market secrecy of the three parties involved.

Clerici filed a brief before the court asking to be acquitted in the case, arguing that the trip to Marbella was personal and that the yacht was lent to her by a friend. In the brief, she claimed that she “did not break any criminal laws” and that the photos uploaded to her social media, including the one in which she mentioned Insaurralde, depicted a “personal trip”, according to judicial sources.

Clerici says the Marbella trip in September was to visit her sister, and the boat in which she was photographed with Insaurralde “is owned by a personal friend” of her sister, who “lent it for just one day of sailing in the Mediterranean.” 

She also claimed that the luxury handbags and watches shown in her posts were gifts and have no connection to Insaurralde.

-Télam