Christina Kirchner Faces New Legal Challenges as Assets Remain Frozen

A Buenos Aires court has ordered the seizure of 20 properties tied to former Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and her children as part of an effort to recover approximately $500 million allegedly lost through corrupt public-works contracts.

The ruling, issued on Tuesday, November 18, 2025, targets assets linked to the so-called Vialidad corruption scandal, which investigated more than 50 public-works contracts awarded in Santa Cruz province, the Kirchners’ home province. Prosecutors contend that many of these projects were steered to businessman Lázaro Báez with inflated budgets and expedited approvals, and that several contracts were never completed.

The court’s order includes houses, land, and hotels owned by Fernández de Kirchner, her son Máximo, and her daughter Florencia. Among the properties is one in the Patagonian town of El Calafate measuring 6,000 square meters.

Fernández de Kirchner was convicted in 2022 and sentenced to six years in prison with a lifetime ban from holding public office. She remains under house arrest while her legal team appeals the conviction. The asset seizure is intended to recover funds identified as state losses stemming from the contracts under investigation.

Supporters of the former president call the action political persecution, while analysts say the ruling may dent her influence but is unlikely to produce immediate political upheaval. Fernández de Kirchner, a prominent figure in the center-left Kirchnerism political movement, maintains her innocence, describing the case as a politically motivated “show.”

The Vialidad case focuses on alleged irregularities in public-works contracts during Fernández de Kirchner’s presidency from 2007 to 2015. In addition to the asset seizure, a judge had previously ordered those convicted to pay back over $500 million in fraudulent funds related to the scandal.

The former president served as vice president from 2019 to 2023. Her husband, former President Néstor Kirchner, died in 2010.