In the north of Santiago del Esteroin a rural strip of the department of Alberdi known as Colonia Fiscal Leftovers from the Deserta dozen neighbors report that they have suffered, for more than a decade, systematic maneuvers to dispossess their lands.
The residents of the place, also known as Mojones Blancos, say that these are not isolated conflicts or disputes between residents, but rather an organized scheme that is repeated in different fields and that would be protected by figures with political and judicial power in the province.
This alleged network includes the treasurer of the Argentine Football Association (AFA), Pablo Toviggino. As proof of this alleged link, the complainants exhibited THE NATION documents that – according to reports – they presented in court, with proof of notarial records in which SOMA SRL and Malte SRL appear as owners of the land.
These are two companies linked to Pilar’s mansion and to other properties that Justice is investigating with the growing suspicion that the owner in the shadows is Toviggino.
Malte SRL was the owner of the Pilar farm between June 2023 and May 2024. A percentage of Malte was acquired by SOMA, which was made up of Darío Fabián Toviggino -brother of the AFA treasurer- and who had as manager Mauro Javier Pazdirector of the association that was in charge of women’s soccer and who is also the majority partner of Malte SRL.
Mauro Javier Paz, in addition, appears as the owner of one of the lands, according to the documentation delivered by the complainants to THE NATION.
In this way, some of the names investigated as possible figureheads of Toviggino appear in the lands of Santiago del Estero.
Neighbors say that in the last ten years at least seven fields in the area were taken under the same scheme: first, violent occupation; then, the generation of supposed titles; finally, the sale of those lands to third parties. They assure that when they tried to move forward judicially, the occupants responded with threats and claiming to have “the bank of Zamora”, a reference to the former governor of Santiago del Estero. They believe that the name of Pablo Toviggino and his family environment would explain the lack of institutional responses.
The neighbors he spoke to THE NATION They explained that these are public lands, without original private deeds, in which the regime of possessory actions historically governed. They say that many residents lived there since the nineties, dedicated to construction and work for sawmills in the Campo Gallo area, head of the department.
According to what they say, already in 2001 and 2002 there was effective occupation of the territory, with roads opened even before, based on pitfalls carried out by YPF for its oil exploration tasks.
The neighbors say that, starting in the late nineties and early 2000s, agricultural producers began to arrive, mainly from Jesús Maríawith the intention of expanding the productive frontier. They point out that these producers bought possession rights from local residents, through notary offices, and began to develop agricultural and livestock projects on fields that they describe as virgin, with native forest and natural pastures.
According to the buyers, one of the paradigmatic cases is “Campo Viejo”, of about 2900 hectares, and “Pampita”, of approximately 2420 hectares. They affirm that in March 2003 the possessory rights were acquired by Ricardo Alberto Baldi and Carlos Csáky, together with Gustavo Boneto and Héctor Roera, through purchases from local residents.
The testimonies maintain that in 2004 there was a first attempt at usurpation by people who sought to exploit the wood from the mountain, but the provincial Justice ordered the eviction and restored possession to the buyers.
The neighbors assure that between 2004 and 2010 those fields were worked on in a sustained manner. They report that perimeter and internal pitting, fencing, selective cleaning without massive clearings, planting of pastures such as Gatton Panic, water drilling, dams and rural constructions were carried out, in addition to the registration of measurement plans in the cadastre and the payment of taxes. They maintain that all this development was documented in judicial and administrative files.
The breakup, according to the neighbors, was at the end of 2011. They say that then a group that they describe as an organized bandmade up of people from outside the region, with logistics, vehicles and alleged political support. They report that there were violent episodes, with burning of facilities, destruction of property and expulsion of those who exploited the fields. The neighbors say that they were not rural residents, but rather “professionals” of the usurpation.
In that story the name of Fernando Figueroaknown as “Polo”, whom neighbors point out as one of the central operators. They also mention the presence of people linked to the Central Córdoba brava gang and a lawyer, Aníbal Patto, a relative of the provincial Minister of Justice. According to what they say, the police not only did not intervene to stop the events, but in some cases they collaborated with the transfer of materials.
The central conflict was judicialized in several files. One of them is No. 438308, titled “Baldi Ricardo Alberto and others v. César Orlando Acosta and others and/or whoever is responsible for the interdict to recover possession.” The neighbors say that the property in dispute is part of a larger area registered in the name of the Government of Santiago del Estero and that it was never validly awarded to individuals.
According to what they say, one of the most frequent maneuvers was the constant replacement of defendants. They say that the supposed owners transferred the rights successively to other people, which forced notifications to be restarted and extended the process for years. They affirm that even when a court decided to restore possession, the eviction process was stopped by the presentation of a criminal case that the neighbors describe as “invented.”
The situation would have worsened with the appearance of a third party. They report that they became aware of its existence when in 2019 the firm ACM Logísticas SA began clearing tasks in the fields, despite the existence of precautionary measures.
According to the neighbors, the documentation presented is part of a new delaying maneuver. They maintain that the titles exhibited are supported by deeds and inscriptions that they consider non-existent or false, corresponding to license plates and notarial acts carried out between 2017 y 2018. They say that these instruments would have been prepared despite the fact that the lands continue to be fiscal domain.
In the process, the material and ideological falsity of these deeds was denounced, including signatures that did not correspond to authorities of the Property Registry. They claim that a fictitious chain of transmissions was set up to simulate a legitimate sale and separate the new purchaser from the previous occupants. Within this framework, they requested calligraphic expertise, title studies, reports to the Cadastre and the Land Directorate, and surveying expertise.
