AP, Buenos Aires :
A former Argentine government official threw himself in front of a train and killed himself after being accused of taking bribes, the latest fallout from a widespread corruption probe in professional soccer that has implicated businessmen and top officials in several countries.
Jorge Delhon, a lawyer who worked in the administration of former Argentina President Cristina Fernandez, killed himself on Tuesday by jumping in front of a train in Buenos Aires.
A ministry official in Buenos Aires province confirmed the death. The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak on the subject.
“I love you all,” Delhon wrote in a suicide note to his family, the ministry official told The Associated Press. “I can’t believe (what’s happening).”
The suicide came just hours after sports marketing executive Alejandro Burzaco told a judge in New York he had paid millions in bribes to Delhon and Pablo Paladino in exchange for TV production rights to soccer matches.
Paladino worked for the now defunct government program Futbol para Todos (Football for All), which broadcast local soccer matches on public TV. Delhon worked under Fernandez’s chief of staff, and dealt with Futbol para Todos.
Paladino rejected Burzaco’s claims, saying Futbol para Todos didn’t have the budget or ability to make spending decisions.
“We could only broadcast,” he told The Associated Press.
Paladino also said Fernandez’s administration called the shots.
“They were politically responsible for the country. They took the political decisions, they bought the rights and later, in a third instance, there was a show like ours, where there were administrative issues in the cabinet chief’s office,” he said. “All we had to do was to broadcast it.”
A former Argentine government official threw himself in front of a train and killed himself after being accused of taking bribes, the latest fallout from a widespread corruption probe in professional soccer that has implicated businessmen and top officials in several countries.
Jorge Delhon, a lawyer who worked in the administration of former Argentina President Cristina Fernandez, killed himself on Tuesday by jumping in front of a train in Buenos Aires.
A ministry official in Buenos Aires province confirmed the death. The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak on the subject.
“I love you all,” Delhon wrote in a suicide note to his family, the ministry official told The Associated Press. “I can’t believe (what’s happening).”
The suicide came just hours after sports marketing executive Alejandro Burzaco told a judge in New York he had paid millions in bribes to Delhon and Pablo Paladino in exchange for TV production rights to soccer matches.
Paladino worked for the now defunct government program Futbol para Todos (Football for All), which broadcast local soccer matches on public TV. Delhon worked under Fernandez’s chief of staff, and dealt with Futbol para Todos.
Paladino rejected Burzaco’s claims, saying Futbol para Todos didn’t have the budget or ability to make spending decisions.
“We could only broadcast,” he told The Associated Press.
Paladino also said Fernandez’s administration called the shots.
“They were politically responsible for the country. They took the political decisions, they bought the rights and later, in a third instance, there was a show like ours, where there were administrative issues in the cabinet chief’s office,” he said. “All we had to do was to broadcast it.”
