Buenos Aires, March 19 (teleSUR-RHC) The allegations Wednesday that late Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman was diverting money from the investigation unit examining the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish cultural center have raised more questions about the prosecutor's untimely death. Nisman's former wife, Sandra Arroyo Salgado, has attempted to pin Nisman's death on Diego Lagomarsino, a computer technician hired by Nisman to work on the case.
According to Arroyo, Lagomarsino killed Nisman over money issues. To back up her claim, she points to the fact that Lagomarsino's gun was found at the crime scene. In addition, the forensic team hired by Arroyo claims that Nisman died on Jan. 17, suggesting Lagomarsino was in the apartment when Nisman died.
Arroyo had petitioned the Argentine courts to remove Viviana Fein, the prosecutor in charge of investigating the death of Nisman, from the case. Arroyo accused Fein of steering the investigation away from Arroyo's hypothesis that Nisman's death was a homicide.
A judge denied Arroyo's request Wednesday. In response to Arroyo's accusations, Lagomarsino's lawyer, Maximiliano Rusconi, revealed that Nisman was siphoning off half of Lagomarsino's salary and had been doing so for seven years. Lagomarsino's salary came from a government fund — meant to be used to investigate the 1994 AMIA bombing — which Nisman administered.
Rusconi told Argentine newspaper Pagina 12 that his client had not revealed this fact previously for fear that it would damage Nisman's reputation, but felt it necessary to do so now as he was being accused of being behind the death of Nisman.
Rusconi claims that this proves his client would not have gained anything economically from Nisman's death. “We hope that the investigation will resume its focus on the principle issue, the death of Nisman,” Rusconi told Pagina 12.
The official forensic team, which answers to the Supreme Court, has not ruled Nisman's death as homicide and have stated that the evidence appears to point to a suicide. The official autopsy states that Nisman died on Jan. 18, when Lagomarsino was no longer at Nisman's residence.
