The CRF office in Rosario will take months to be operational and will only have an impact in the next government

The announcement of the opening of an office of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) in the city of Rosario, it happened just days before the shooting at the supermarket owned by Antonela Roccuzzo’s family and the suspicious threat against Lionel Messi. Of Santa Fe’s latest set of official drug-dealing pledges, this is the only one that hasn’t been tainted by the “Messian Effect”. In fact, the ad had been running for a long time. However, its implementation will take several months and will lead to concrete results during the next government.

“Conceptually, the announcement of a regional agency is correct, it is good that the FIU is close to the reporting entities, which are its sources and have the duty to report. But opening a regional office is a slow process that takes at least three to six months. You have to recruit the right staff, make the office operational, and it is only in a few months that it will start to receive information and have concrete results,” explained an expert who survived several efforts within the FRC.

So far, the only thing that exists is a physical space at the headquarters of the Administrative entity of Puerto Rosario (Enapro), a few blocks from the National Flag Monument. The office is operational and has furniture because until a few days ago it was occupied by the Santa Fe Investment and International Trade Agency. “It’s a strategic place, in the middle of the port of Rosario, near the courts. There is a prefectural delegation on site and the technological part is ensured. For us, the arrival of the CRF is important, we need it to be in the territory,” he said. GlobeLiveMedia an official in Governor Omar Perotti’s cabinet.

The second step, perhaps the most sensible, is to get trained employees process the information received by the FIU. The quickest way would be to recruit staff from the National Securities Commission (CNV) or the Central Bank. “Bringing employees from Buenos Aires is very complicated. The analysis area (which processes STRs) has only 30 employees to manage the information received from all over the country. The ideal is an appropriate, knowledgeable local population, including supervisors, financial analysts and criminal lawyers. And the most important thing: that they do not engage in politics,” stressed a former official.

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as much as he could tell GlobeLiveMediathe head of the FIU, Juan Carlos Otero, already appointed a coordinator for the Rosario office, although it will be operational from 1 April. Like Otero, this coordinator has a CNV background. He is not the only official who has arrived at the FIU in recent months. The new director of analysis, Federico Pérez, also comes from this department. Five other former CNV employees landed with him.

In addition to the coordinator, two or three employees have already been recruited for Rosario. For the rest of the seats, reserved for accountants and lawyers, the Santa Fe government would also have made some suggestions.

Next comes the implementation phase. “You have to map the situation, identify the most relevant sources and those who are not doing their job, and in the criminal aspect you have to comb through the files with the best opportunity to present yourself as a complainant,” explained an expert.

The Rosario office will in fact function as a delegation for the central region, with jurisdiction in Santa Fe and Córdoba. Originally, the law stated that was going to work in the city of Córdoba. But the escalation of violence in Rosario has changed plans.

Decree 85/2023, published in the Official Gazette of February 20, affirms that “in recent years there have been increase in the number of suspicious transaction reports made in the city of Rosario”. And he cites a report by the National Money Laundering Risk Assessment, where “a large number of criminal organizations based in the city of Rosario” emerge, as well as “criminal activity and levels of violence above the national average.

The Santa Fe government hopes that the CRF office, like the rest of the announcements, will have concrete effects as soon as possible. And this can be articulated with the local territorial referents to know the most immediate problems. But the implementation process takes months. Immediately, the authorities must sign a loan agreement for the transferred property and The training is already scheduled for the end of Marchwith local declaring entities and with references from municipalities in the central region.

The referents of Justice of Santa Fe consulted in this way also celebrated the arrival of the UIF. “It’s late, but it all adds up like the tech tools that have arrived lately. Concretely, programs to block cell phones and a machine for the traceability of weapons and bullets,” explained a local judge. However, magistrates are more aware of other decisions that depend on the national government. According to a survey he conducted GlobeLiveMedia, there are 36 positions of judges and 11 of prosecutors who investigate and prosecute drug trafficking which are vacant and to be filled immediately.

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Other referents of Justice are more skeptical about the arrival of the CRF in Rosario. “It will help if they do good staffing and if there is coordination with other agencies”assured a prosecutor specializing in narcotics cases.

In the opposition, there are also more doubts than certainties. “For us, the fight against drug trafficking was part of government policy and was managed as part of a coordinated strategy between federal agencies and the provinces. Moreover, the fight against drug trafficking is closely linked to the fight against corruption, because one cannot be separated from the other. I don’t see strategic political decisions at the highest level and I don’t see the government busy fighting corruption,” a former official said.

CENTIF already has two regional agencies, in Salta and Posadas, which were installed under the direction of Mariano Federici. According to Executive Order 290 of 2007, three other agencies are still pending in Cuyo, Patagonia and Pampeana. “We have good relations with the UIF of Salta, but we never work on the basis of a report from them,” said the same prosecutor.

The announcement of the new office in Rosario also comes amid an internal crisis at the anti-money laundering agency. The position vacated by former Vice President Luna Montes von Herman, which lasted only nine months, has not yet been filled. In addition, two key administrators left: Diego Gamba, in charge of the international domain, and Silvana Carvallo, former director of Summaries. Both arrive at the AFIP, which becomes a privileged refuge for many UIF officials.

In the collection agency he had already landed Marianne Quevedo, first vice of the UIF under the direction of Alberto Fernández. His departure came in October 2021, amid a tough internship with the organization’s then president, Carlos Cruz.

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