María del Luján Telpuk
Encyclopedia
Lorena Telpuk, formerly María del Luján Telpuk, (sometimes María de Luján Telpuk) or the Suitcase Girl (c. 1981) is a former airport police officer at Aeroparque Jorge Newbery
in Buenos Aires
, Argentina
, who noticed a suitcase with US$800,000 as it went through an X-ray machine
in August 2007. In December 2007, the money became a very public part of an international election suitcase scandal, known as Maletinazo
. When the suitcase scandal became public, she became an international celebrity and appeared on the cover of several magazines, including those of the February 2008 issue of the Argentine
edition of Playboy
magazine and the March 2008 issue of the Venezuela
n edition of Playboy magazine.
In 2008, according to foreign language sources, she changed her name from María del Luján Telpuk to Lorena Telpuk; she posed for additional adult modeling photographs; and continued her pursuit of stardom. She also testified in court regarding her involvement in the case.
teacher. She was raised in a small town in the Santa Fe Province
where she taught nursery school, but she moved to Buenos Aires after passing an entrance exam for the Airport Security Police about three years prior to the Maletinazo
incident. In the short time since Telpuk has transformed from night shift policewoman to pinup girl almost overnight. She has left the police force, joined a charter airline, begun taking English classes and begun to prepare for a role on Skating for a Dream, an Argentine variety show
.
Telpuk's mother Yolanda lives in a middle-class suburb of Buenos Aires. She is widowed and used to work for a pasta
factory.
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
and that was possessed by a Key Biscayne, Florida
associate of President of Venezuela Hugo Chávez
. The carrier, Guido Antonini Wilson (who is referred to in the press by both Antonini and Wilson and who is sometimes referred to by the nicknames "El Gordo" or "The Fat Man"), is an interpreter and was part of a delegation of executives that traveled to Argentina in advance of Chávez' energy deal signing. He opened the bag at the insistence of Telpuk, who noticed the six dense and perfectly rectangular blocks in the luggage scans. At first, Wilson had explained the items as books and papers. When forced to open it, he began to stammer and show signs of nervousness, and he said the suitcase only contained about $60,000. The blocks turned out to be US$790,550. The delegation, which arrived on a Cessna Citation
jet arriving from Caracas
, Venezuela
, chartered by Energía Argentina, SA
, carried five Venezuelans and three Argentines who represented their respective governments' energy companies. In a country known for its corruption, Telpuk did not have an interest in a bribe although she felt Wilson may have expected her to be willing to take one. Instead of pursuing a bribe, she reported the finding.
Although the local media of both Argentina and Venezuela gave the story immediate front page coverage, the case faded away until after Kirchner was elected. The United States prosecutors believe that the money represented a contribution from Venezuelan President Chávez to the presidential campaign of Argentina's leftist leader, Kirchner. Two days after the December 10, 2007 inauguration, several arrests were announced by prosecutor
s working for the United States Attorney General
. The arrests were for activities related to having offered Wilson $2 million to keep quiet about the contributions from Venezuela to support Kirchner's campaign. In addition to Maletinazo, the case is known in Latin America as "Valijagate" or "Suitcasegate", and Telpuk is known as the Suitcase Girl in her homeland, Argentina.
For her part, Telpuk felt she was caught in the "middle of a rivalry of nations". She has been vilified as a mercenary
fortune-seeker and CIA lackey. She has received a variety of threats by telephone and email
, and had police protection starting when the incident became a public scandal in December. She has even received a bouquet
with an ominous note.
magazine next to the headline "Corrupción Al Desnudo" (translated as "Corruption Laid Bare"). Subsequently, she appeared on the March 2008 issue of the Venezuelan edition of Playboy magazine. She posed with a red suitcase decorated with both the Argentine
and Venezuelan flags
while wearing a scarf, black leather gloves and black-and-white boots for her Playboy cover appearance. Within the magazine in her pictorial, she posed with fewer clothes and with various props: the ubiquitous suitcase, dollar bill
s, including the propeller
blades of a single-engine airplane. She decided to pursue an appearance on the Argentine variety show "Bailando por un sueño", after Marcelo Tinelli
visited her at the airport to congratulate her.
Telpuk has appeared on various talk show
s since the scandal. In 2008, according to foreign language sources, she changed her name from María del Luján Telpuk to Lorena Telpuk; she was mysteriously dismissed from Skating for a Dream; and she posed for additional adult modeling photographs in Premium, an Argentine magazine. Telpuk had breast augmentation
surgery prior to her late 2008 court appearances.
as well as employment in the United States in exchange for modifying her witness statement that Mr. Antonini Wilson was the owner of the suitcase that contained the $800,000. On November 3, 2008, part of the case was decided in a Miami courtroom when Franklin Durán, a wealthy businessman who allegedly conspired to cover up both the origin and the destination of the suitcase, was convicted of acting as an "unregistered agent" of Venezuela on American soil. On March 17, 2009 Franklin Durán, who was facing up to 15 years in prison, was sentenced to 4.
Aeroparque Jorge Newbery
-Accidents and incidents:*On 17 December 1969, an Austral Líneas Aéreas C-46 Commando, lost engine 1 due to fuel exhaustion shortly after take-off. The plane failed to gain height and made a crash landing in a small sport field...
in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, who noticed a suitcase with US$800,000 as it went through an X-ray machine
X-ray machine
An X-ray generator is a device used to generate X-rays. These devices are commonly used by radiographers to acquire an x-ray image of the inside of an object but they are also used in sterilization or fluorescence....
in August 2007. In December 2007, the money became a very public part of an international election suitcase scandal, known as Maletinazo
Maletinazo
The maletinazo, valijagate, or "suitcase scandal" was a 2007 scandal involving Venezuela and Argentina, souring friendship between the countries. The word comes from maletín and the suffix -azo which implies intensity or magnitude...
. When the suitcase scandal became public, she became an international celebrity and appeared on the cover of several magazines, including those of the February 2008 issue of the Argentine
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
edition of Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
magazine and the March 2008 issue of the Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
n edition of Playboy magazine.
In 2008, according to foreign language sources, she changed her name from María del Luján Telpuk to Lorena Telpuk; she posed for additional adult modeling photographs; and continued her pursuit of stardom. She also testified in court regarding her involvement in the case.
Personal
Telpuk is a former nursery schoolNursery school
A nursery school is a school for children between the ages of one and five years, staffed by suitably qualified and other professionals who encourage and supervise educational play rather than simply providing childcare...
teacher. She was raised in a small town in the Santa Fe Province
Santa Fe Province
The Invincible Province of Santa Fe, in Spanish Provincia Invencible de Santa Fe , is a province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco , Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and Santiago del Estero...
where she taught nursery school, but she moved to Buenos Aires after passing an entrance exam for the Airport Security Police about three years prior to the Maletinazo
Maletinazo
The maletinazo, valijagate, or "suitcase scandal" was a 2007 scandal involving Venezuela and Argentina, souring friendship between the countries. The word comes from maletín and the suffix -azo which implies intensity or magnitude...
incident. In the short time since Telpuk has transformed from night shift policewoman to pinup girl almost overnight. She has left the police force, joined a charter airline, begun taking English classes and begun to prepare for a role on Skating for a Dream, an Argentine variety show
Variety show
A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...
.
Telpuk's mother Yolanda lives in a middle-class suburb of Buenos Aires. She is widowed and used to work for a pasta
Pasta
Pasta is a staple food of traditional Italian cuisine, now of worldwide renown. It takes the form of unleavened dough, made in Italy, mostly of durum wheat , water and sometimes eggs. Pasta comes in a variety of different shapes that serve for both decoration and to act as a carrier for the...
factory.
Maletinazo
On August 4, 2007, at 2:45 a.m., she discovered the money that became part of a political scandal in the electoral campaign of President of ArgentinaPresident of Argentina
The President of the Argentine Nation , usually known as the President of Argentina, is the head of state of Argentina. Under the national Constitution, the President is also the chief executive of the federal government and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.Through Argentine history, the...
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner , commonly known as Cristina Fernández or Cristina Kirchner is the 55th and current President of Argentina and the widow of former President Néstor Kirchner. She is Argentina's first elected female president, and the second female president ever to serve...
and that was possessed by a Key Biscayne, Florida
Key Biscayne, Florida
Key Biscayne is a village in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States on the island of Key Biscayne. The population was 10,507 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau is 10,324....
associate of President of Venezuela Hugo Chávez
Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías is the 56th and current President of Venezuela, having held that position since 1999. He was formerly the leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007, when he became the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela...
. The carrier, Guido Antonini Wilson (who is referred to in the press by both Antonini and Wilson and who is sometimes referred to by the nicknames "El Gordo" or "The Fat Man"), is an interpreter and was part of a delegation of executives that traveled to Argentina in advance of Chávez' energy deal signing. He opened the bag at the insistence of Telpuk, who noticed the six dense and perfectly rectangular blocks in the luggage scans. At first, Wilson had explained the items as books and papers. When forced to open it, he began to stammer and show signs of nervousness, and he said the suitcase only contained about $60,000. The blocks turned out to be US$790,550. The delegation, which arrived on a Cessna Citation
Cessna Citation
The Cessna Citation is a marketing name used by Cessna for its line of business jets. Rather than one particular model of aircraft, the name applies to several "families" of turbofan-powered aircraft that have been produced over the years...
jet arriving from Caracas
Caracas
Caracas , officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela; natives or residents are known as Caraquenians in English . It is located in the northern part of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuelan coastal mountain range...
, Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, chartered by Energía Argentina, SA
Enarsa
Enarsa , in full Energía Argentina Sociedad Anónima, is a company managed by the national state of Argentina for the integral exploitation of petroleum and natural gas, and the production, industrialization, transport and trade of these and of electricity.Enarsa was founded on December 29, 2004 by...
, carried five Venezuelans and three Argentines who represented their respective governments' energy companies. In a country known for its corruption, Telpuk did not have an interest in a bribe although she felt Wilson may have expected her to be willing to take one. Instead of pursuing a bribe, she reported the finding.
Although the local media of both Argentina and Venezuela gave the story immediate front page coverage, the case faded away until after Kirchner was elected. The United States prosecutors believe that the money represented a contribution from Venezuelan President Chávez to the presidential campaign of Argentina's leftist leader, Kirchner. Two days after the December 10, 2007 inauguration, several arrests were announced by prosecutor
Prosecutor
The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...
s working for the United States Attorney General
United States Attorney General
The United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. The attorney general is considered to be the chief lawyer of the U.S. government...
. The arrests were for activities related to having offered Wilson $2 million to keep quiet about the contributions from Venezuela to support Kirchner's campaign. In addition to Maletinazo, the case is known in Latin America as "Valijagate" or "Suitcasegate", and Telpuk is known as the Suitcase Girl in her homeland, Argentina.
For her part, Telpuk felt she was caught in the "middle of a rivalry of nations". She has been vilified as a mercenary
Mercenary
A mercenary, is a person who takes part in an armed conflict based on the promise of material compensation rather than having a direct interest in, or a legal obligation to, the conflict itself. A non-conscript professional member of a regular army is not considered to be a mercenary although he...
fortune-seeker and CIA lackey. She has received a variety of threats by telephone and email
Email
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
, and had police protection starting when the incident became a public scandal in December. She has even received a bouquet
Flower bouquet
A flower bouquet is a collection of flowers in a creative arrangement. There are different kinds including nosegay, crescent, and cascading bouquets. Flower bouquets are often given for special occasions such as birthdays or anniversaries. They are also used extensively in weddings. Traditionally...
with an ominous note.
Media appearances
Her first magazine cover appearance was on the December issue of an irreverent political magazine, Veintitrés where Telpuk appeared under the headline "The Bombshell Behind the Suitcase" standing behind a suitcase. She wore little other than a police cap, and another headline on the cover read, "Is She the Key Piece of a Plot Designed by Washington?" She then appeared on the February issue of the Argentine edition of PlayboyPlayboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
magazine next to the headline "Corrupción Al Desnudo" (translated as "Corruption Laid Bare"). Subsequently, she appeared on the March 2008 issue of the Venezuelan edition of Playboy magazine. She posed with a red suitcase decorated with both the Argentine
Flag of Argentina
The national flag of Argentina is a triband, composed of three equally wide horizontal bands coloured light blue, white and light blue. There are multiple interpretations on the reasons for those colors...
and Venezuelan flags
Flag of Venezuela
The current flag of Venezuela was introduced in 2006.The basic design includes a horizontal tricolor of yellow, blue, and red, dating to the original flag introduced in 1811, in the Venezuelan War of Independence....
while wearing a scarf, black leather gloves and black-and-white boots for her Playboy cover appearance. Within the magazine in her pictorial, she posed with fewer clothes and with various props: the ubiquitous suitcase, dollar bill
Dollar bill
The dollar bill may refer to banknotes of currencies that are named dollar. Note that some of these currencies may have coins for 1 dollar instead.-See also:*Australian one-dollar note*Withdrawn Canadian banknotes*United States one-dollar bill...
s, including the propeller
Propeller
A propeller is a type of fan that transmits power by converting rotational motion into thrust. A pressure difference is produced between the forward and rear surfaces of the airfoil-shaped blade, and a fluid is accelerated behind the blade. Propeller dynamics can be modeled by both Bernoulli's...
blades of a single-engine airplane. She decided to pursue an appearance on the Argentine variety show "Bailando por un sueño", after Marcelo Tinelli
Marcelo Tinelli
Marcelo Hugo Tinelli is an Argentine TV host, media producer and businessman, best known as the host of the TV show ShowMatch broadcast on Argentina's Canal 13...
visited her at the airport to congratulate her.
Telpuk has appeared on various talk show
Talk show
A talk show or chat show is a television program or radio program where one person discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host....
s since the scandal. In 2008, according to foreign language sources, she changed her name from María del Luján Telpuk to Lorena Telpuk; she was mysteriously dismissed from Skating for a Dream; and she posed for additional adult modeling photographs in Premium, an Argentine magazine. Telpuk had breast augmentation
Breast augmentation
Breast augmentation denotes the breast implant and fat-graft mammoplasty procedures for correcting the defects, and for enhancing the size, form, and feel of a woman’s breasts...
surgery prior to her late 2008 court appearances.
Courtroom
Telpuk testified in court in October 2008 on various days spanning the weekend of October 5, 2008, regarding her knowledge in the famous suitcase scandal. Her October 3 testimony, wherein she contradicted the testimony of Antonini, in which he had stated that he was carrying the suitcase as a courtesy to his companions, was considered a highlight of the trial. On that day, her presence prompted a media frenzy .. For her part, Telpuk took the stand to testify that she had been offered political asylum by the Federal Bureau of InvestigationFederal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
as well as employment in the United States in exchange for modifying her witness statement that Mr. Antonini Wilson was the owner of the suitcase that contained the $800,000. On November 3, 2008, part of the case was decided in a Miami courtroom when Franklin Durán, a wealthy businessman who allegedly conspired to cover up both the origin and the destination of the suitcase, was convicted of acting as an "unregistered agent" of Venezuela on American soil. On March 17, 2009 Franklin Durán, who was facing up to 15 years in prison, was sentenced to 4.