A bad family debt, a conflictive divorce, rentals in Miami and a business with a well-known car dealership in front of the Monumental Stadium, the headquarters of River Plate in Núñez. The reasons that led Zulemita Menem to operate in the world offshore They were very diverse and included four companies in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) that were operational between 1997 -when Carlos Menem was passing his second presidency- and 2006. But according to the heiress of the former Riojan president, who died this year, none of these activities it involved money from his father.
Zulemita, businesswoman, graduate in foreign trade and heir to Carlos Menem – whom she accompanied until the end of his days – was linked to four offshore companies: Ralsen Properties Limited, Menfield Holdings Limited, Berclair Holdings and Nustal Enterprises. All were operated through Alemán, Cordero, Galindo & Lee (Alcogal), a Panamanian law firm that provides services to multinational corporations, investors and high net worth individuals, according to the nearly 12 million documents of the Pandora Papers, which were accessed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) that make up LA NACION, Infobae, elDiario.Ar and the country.
As the Argentine ICIJ team was able to reconstruct based on the Pandora Papers and other public records, from his link to these firms it appears that Zulemita had and assigned a promissory note for a debt of Emir Yoma, who operated rental contracts in Miami, who sold a luxurious boat with his Italian ex-husband and who processed a loan in a Nigerian bank, together with a partner, to open a Toyota dealership in front of River Plate.
“Although my father was in the public service, I never did and I have been in the private sector since I was 18 years old, even before finishing my studies in Foreign Trade. My father never got involved or participated in my companies, ”said Zulemita Menem when answering questions from the Argentine ICIJ team.
Family matters
Zulemita Menem was the beneficiary of a promissory note for a family debt of Emir Yoma, the iconic presidential brother-in-law and off-road advisor to Carlos Menem who ended up imprisoned for arms smuggling and involved in several allegations of corruption, such as the Swiftgate. According to Pandora Papers, Zulemita assigned that promissory note in his favor to Ralsen Properties Limited, a firm registered in the Virgin Islands in 1997 with two “prestanombres” on its board: Andrés M. Sánchez and Myrna de Navarro.
“I had to initiate a legal claim for Emir Yoma to pay me a private and family debt that unfortunately I could never collect, neither in the United States, nor in Argentina,” said Zulemita. In May 2004, Ralsen Properties Limited issued a power of attorney in favor of the Argentine lawyer Cristian Martínez Rey, so that he could “carry out any legal action on behalf of the company”. Zulemita said that this management “was purely and exclusively to initiate the trial in Argentina” and that she had no more relationship with the Virgin Islands firm since the collection of the loan from Emimr Yoma was frustrated “approximately in 2005.”
The daughter of the former president did not want to detail the amount of the promissory note or what it obeyed and limited herself to talking about a “family” debt.
Zulemita also had a power of attorney to operate with the firm Belclair Holdings, created in the Virgin Islands in 2004, together with her ex-husband, the Italian Paolo Bertoldi, with whom she had her first child. Married in June 2003 in a discreet wedding in Santa Margherita Ligure, Genoa, they lived in Miami and had a conflictive relationship with cross complaints in court, until they officially divorced in 2007. Presented by the media as a powerful businessman, Zulemita clarified Sometimes Bertoldi was “neither a prince nor a beggar” and that he was dedicated to exporting oils.
According to Pandora PapersHowever, through Berclair Holdings Bertoldi sold a vessel called Riccione and issued a document authorizing the sale of a condominium in Gibraltar. Zulemita had a power of attorney over the signature between November 12 and December 6, 2004. He recovered it on April 18, 2006. “I shared the ownership of the boat with my ex-husband and a power of attorney to do paperwork related to the boat. I do not know if the company had properties in Gibraltar or other jurisdictions, since the company belonged to my ex-husband and was managed by him. The power of attorney revoked it from me -in 2004- Paolo due to the conflicts originated in the divorce and then he granted it to me again because he decided to sell the boat and he needed my agreement, ”Zulemita explained. Bertoldi today resides in the Bahamas.
Zulemita and her mother Zulema Yoma, meanwhile, obtained in February 2002 a power of attorney to operate the firm Menfield Holdings Limited. Always according to Alcogal’s records, in October of that year the company would have taken a loan from Broadbeach Inc for $ 400,000 for the purchase of properties in Miami. In the Florida land registry, however, there are no real estate in the name of that firm. In February 2004 a letter reported that Sofisa Holdings International “formerly called Menfield Holdings Limited” revoked the power of attorney on behalf of Zulema and Zulemita.
When consulted by the Argentine team of ICIJ, Zulemita warned that “he did not acquire any property through Menfield (or Sofisa)” but acknowledged that he rents “different properties” in Miami to Broadbeach Inc. “I contacted the people of Broadbeach and I they reported that there is no record of a loan to Menfield in their books, ”said Menem’s daughter.
The Argentine business: the car dealership in front of River
Zulemita did not operate offshore just to manage family matters. He also went to Alcogal, together with a partner, to start a showy business with a Toyota dealership, whom he has represented for 23 years.
According to the Pandora PapersOn July 29, 1999, a board of directors meeting held in Panama of the firm Nustal Enterprises, resolved that “for the proper management of the corporation’s funds it was convenient to open a bank account at Guaranty Trust Bank with a guarantee trust.” that determined that the account “be opened and operated by Zulema Maria Eva Menem”, the full name of Zulemita.
“At the beginning of one of my commercial activities -with Toyota- it was necessary to open an account with funds of who at that time was my partner, in order to guarantee a loan,” Zulemita explained. The daughter of the former president refers to Jorge Cupeiro, a legend of Highway Tourism who later devoted himself to sports and luxury car agencies. Zulemita and Cupeiro – who passed away this year – were partners (with 50% of the shares each) in two companies: Núñez Autos SA and Videncia SA, both registered at 7576 Figueroa Alcorta avenue, in front of the Monumental, where the Toyota concessionaire still operates. .
According to the documents presented to the General Inspection of Justice (IGJ) and to which the Argentine ICIJ team agreed, Núñez Autos SA only has a balance available that corresponds to its 1998 fiscal year, the first. Cupeiro was 61 years old and Zulemita, 28. In that balance there is no credit with Guaranty Trust Fund. There is only one unidentified debt for 1,086,314 pesos (then equivalent to dollars), which represented 75% of the company’s liabilities. The business gave good results: only in 1998, it registered sales of almost 4.7 million pesos / dollars.
When consulted by the Virgin Islands firm, Zulemita said that, when it started its activity, Núñez Autos SA received a loan that appears in the accounting books from Guaranty Trust Bank that was guaranteed by Nustal Enterprises whose funds were provided by Cupeiro ”. He added that “the loan was timely canceled and Cupeiro’s guarantee released.
The Guaranty Trust Bank was born in Nigeria in 1990 as a financial entity and LLC (similar to a limited liability company). Only in 2002, three years after granting the loan to Cupeiro and Zulemita, did it obtain a license to operate as a bank worldwide, and in 2007 it became the first African bank to be listed on the London Stock Exchange. Today it operates in the Ivory Coast, Gambia, Kenya, Ghana, Liberia, Tanzania and Uganda, among other countries. “Nustal Enterprises was from Cupeiro, not mine, and the bank account never received funds from my parents or any family member,” Zulemita added.
Regarding the other company that Zulemita and Cupeiro shared, Videncia SA, the company was also born in 1998 and from the beginning it registered a debt of $ 340,000 for a mortgage with Credit Banker International SA, according to the balance of that year, which was settled within two years. It began with a social capital of 12,000 pesos / dollars, but received an irrevocable capital contribution of one million pesos from an origin not specified in the balance sheets. By 2001 he had a net worth of more than 2.6 million pesos / dollars. In 2002, Zulema Yoma, Zulemita’s mother and Carlos Menem’s ex-wife, replaced Cupeiro in Vivencia SA and became 50% of the shares, according to the IGJ.
Consulted for this publication, Zulemita Menem said: “It would not be too much to clarify that all my accounts in the country and abroad are in my tax return.” And he added: “Regarding the Alcogal study services, I am no longer a client of the study. Because I am a politically exposed person, the study considered it appropriate not to provide me with its services anymore ”.
The investigation in Argentina was led by Hugo Alconada Mon and Maia Jastreblansky (The nation), Iván Ruiz, Mariel Fitz Patrick and Sandra Crucianelli (Infobae) and Emilia Delfino (elDiarioAr).