Neuquén Lt.Gov. Suspended due to fraud scandal — MercoPress

Argentina: Neuquén Lt.Gov. Suspended due to fraud scandal

Ruiz’s brother has notoriously increased his income outside of his salary

The Legislative Assembly of Neuquén, Argentina’s Patagonian province, on Wednesday suspended Lieutenant Governor Gloria Ruiz from office on moral grounds, with 29 votes in favor and 5 abstentions, over a fraud involving her brother Pablo, whom she appointed to the Legislative Body.

In addition, the measure provides for the suspension of irregular recruitment in which he was involved and the establishment of a commission of inquiry that will last 30 working days to determine whether he was morally disabled in the performance of his duties.

The case was initiated by a memo from Banco Provincia mentioning unusual cash movements by “Mr. Ruiz “used most of the funds in his account on fixed maturities and has been known to increase the volume of loans he took out of his salary.” Other suspicious activity included the registration of a brand new Toyota truck in the name of Gloria Ruiz.

Lieutenant-Gov. Ruiz said he would not resign and accused Gov. Rolando Figueroa of conspiring against him. “I want to put on the record that I will exercise my constitutional right to defend myself,” he insisted. “This is completely political discrimination,” said Ruiz, stating that this initiative was a “decision” of Figueroa himself, and continued: “We supported this government because we believed that change would come.”

Figueroa said he was “disappointed” and explained that he wasn’t there to “support anyone.”