Argentina’s vice president Cristina Fernandez found guilty of fraud

It is the first time an Argentine vice president has been convicted of a crime while in office.

Cristina Fernandez (Rodrigo Abd/AP)

Argentina’s vice president Cristina Fernandez was convicted and sentenced on Tuesday to six years in prison and a lifetime ban from holding public office for a fraud scheme that embezzled one billion US dollars through public works projects during her presidency.

A three-judge panel found the Peronist leader guilty of fraud, but rejected a charge of running a criminal organisation, for which the sentence could have been 12 years in prison.