In November 2018, Paolo Rocca CEO of Argentine-Italian steel company Techint, the parent company of Tenaris and Ternium, was charged with graft in Argentina. The sprawling "notebooks corruption case", centered on bribes allegedly paid by businesses to secure contracts from the administration of former President Cristina Fernandez, involved dozens of business owners and politicians.
Yesterday April 15, an Argentine court of appeals cancelled the accusation that was signed last November by Judge Claudio Bonadio for unlawful association and corruption. Paolo Rocca was exonerated on appeal by the Argentine court due to insufficient evidence, which thus annulled the decision of November 27, 2018, as stated in a note issued by Luxembourg-headquartered Tenaris.
The investigation in question concerned alleged payments made in 2008 by the Techint group to Argentine government officials in exchange for commissions. The appeal court, the note stated, canceled this sentence "on the basis of absence of necessary and sufficient grounds to link Mr. Rocca with the proceedings".
According to the appeal court, "Further investigation into the payments and their alleged justifications would be necessary" to proceed again against Rocca.