Customs filed a criminal complaint against 5 companies for using false SIMI type declarations that are not registered in the MALVINA system. "The firms did not import merchandise to justify the outflow of foreign currency from the BCRA, thus generating an undue flight of dollars to the detriment of the National State. The transfers would be of at least $5,5 million", the authorities reported today (10.07.2023).
The investigation began because specialized agents from the General Directorate of Customs had focused on 9 SIMI-type declarations that turned out to be nonexistent.
The maneuver warned consisted of simulating imports from apocryphal customs documentation, with the aim of transferring foreign currency from the Central Bank to banks based in the US. All of this at the official dollar value, without bringing merchandise into the country.
In this context, Customs filed the appropriate criminal complaint with the National Economic Criminal Court No. 9 -in charge of Judge Javier López Biscayart, substituted by Judge Marcelo Aguinsky. And the body was constituted as a plaintiff.
Justice requested 13 orders presentation to financial institutions, with the aim of obtaining more information on the foreign trade operators targeted. In turn, 23 raids which resulted in the arrest of two people. They were carried out in the City of Buenos Aires, in San Isidro and in an accounting firm in Mar del Plata.
In this regard, the Director General of Customs, Guillermo Michel He said: "We are talking about an illicit association. We have arrested in the framework of this process an accountant and a dishonest bank employee, who offered these services as false managers so that fake companies could obtain dollars abroad - particularly, in accounts in Miami."
For its part, Carlos Ñamandú, commissioner in charge of federal crimes, he added: “The accountant would be the ringleader.” He then added that “documentation was forged in order to obtain the dollars at the official exchange rate.”
"In addition, in one of the raids, in the town of San Miguel, five weapons were seized, three long weapons and two automatic pistols, one pistol with a block. The origin is being investigated," he said.
Customs requested the collaboration of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCen) to provide economic and financial information from US records. This data is essential to clarify the entire scheme, including the financial scheme and the network of companies used.
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