Jesica Cirio's dollar videos rock case against ex-Buenos Aires Province official Martín Insaurralde

"Shocking images." That is how a source with unrestricted access to the court investigation into former Buenos Aires province Cabinet chief Martín Insaurralde and his ex-wife Jesica Cirio described them to Perfil. The source was referring to last week’s explosive videos, in which the model and TV presenter appears showing wads of dollars stored in drawers and stacked boxes inside the walk-in wardrobe of the home the pair shared in 2023 in the gated community of Fincas de San Vicente, in the south of Buenos Aires Province.

Insaurralde and Cirio were already being investigated for alleged illicit enrichment and money-laundering by Argentina’s courts. The series of videos, published over the weekend by the La Nación newspaper, once again shook the political and judicial landscape during last weekend’s Father's Day celebrations.

The judicial source consulted by Perfil said that raids on Cirio's home in the Buenos Aires neighbourhood of Belgrano, and on that of her former partner, Elías Piccirilo, in the town of Banfield, in the district of Lomas de Zamora, had been carried out. Federal judge Luis Armella ordered Cirio to present herself at his court so that her mobile phone could be seized – the device on which these images are allegedly stored and which investigators believe could show up to US$10 million in cash bills.

Following the publication of the videos, Cirio maintained that all her income "is declared to the tax authority." In a statement, Cirio stressed that she has worked since the age of 18 in "the private sector."

She also claimed to be the victim of a non-consensual breach of her audiovisual files and alleged that the published material had been digitally manipulated.

‘Bandido’

The case initially began following the publication of images showing Insaurralde aboard a yacht named 'Bandido' off the coast of Marbella, in the middle of Argentina’s 2023 election campaign.

Model Sofía Clerici, with whom Insaurralde was in a relationship at the time, published the photograph that sealed the former Lomas de Zamora mayor's political fate: by September 30 of that year, he had resigned as provincial Cabinet chief, and on October 2, he withdrew his candidacy as first councillor for Lomas de Zamora.

Still pending in the case, which is being handled by Armella, is a comprehensive audit of Insaurralde and Cirio's assets, including properties, companies and cash holdings.  One of the plaintiffs told Perfil that the audit is 90 percent complete, but that the parties have requested an extension until July 17 – ahead of the winter court recess – to finish it.

"The aim is to establish whether the declared income can justify the lifestyle he led and to determine the origin of the funds used to purchase properties," the lawyer consulted by Perfil said.

The investigation is similar to that facing the current national Cabinet Chief Manuel Adorni.

Insaurralde served as mayor of Lomas de Zamora from 2009 to 2013 and again from 2014 to 2021, when he took office as Buenos Aires Province Cabinet chief. In 2013 he ran as a congressional candidate and won a seat with a candidacy that was ultimately viewed as “testimonial.”

Prosecutor Sergio Mola has requested that Insaurralde be called for a formal statement. Neither Armella nor Ernesto Kreplak, his predecessor at the court – which still lacks a permanent judge – have yet moved forward with that step. During his time as acting judge, Kreplak initiated proceedings for the audit.

In 2025, a ruling by the Criminal Cassation Chamber determined that Supreme Court officials, rather than those from the Faculty of Economic Sciences at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) as Kreplak requested, should conduct the audit.

When the audit was ordered, Insaurralde submitted a 'patrimonial record' detailing his declared assets. Last February, a hearing was held at the federal court presided over by Armella, with all parties present, to finalise the scope of the audit. The assessment is due to be completed next month.

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