Jan. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Maria Lujan Telpuk, a Buenos Aires airport police officer, was X-raying luggage at 2:45 a.m. on Aug. 4 when she spotted the suitcase. Her machine showed it was ``packed with perfect rectangles of very high density.''

When Guido Alejandro Antonini Wilson, a Florida businessman arriving from Caracas, opened the bag at her insistence, it revealed bundles of U.S. cash. ``He said, `There might be about $60,000,''' Telpuk, 27, recalled in an interview. ``I freaked out.'' He was lying or mistaken. Authorities who seized the valise counted $790,550.

The incident sparked a scandal that has exploded into an international imbroglio. The U.S. last month accused five men of being clandestine agents for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's government. Their alleged mission: to cover up Venezuela's attempt to deliver the cash to the presidential campaign of Argentina's Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

The charges have inflamed the U.S.'s already antagonistic relations with Chavez and sidetracked its efforts to court Fernandez after her Oct. 28 victory. The U.S. ``sincerely hoped for warmer relations'' with Argentina, said former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Roger Noriega. If the accusation is proved, ``they will continue to deteriorate,'' and it ``will impact President Fernandez's ability to govern with any credibility.''

At the center of the storm is Antonini, 46, a dual U.S.- Venezuelan citizen. The U.S. said the Venezuelan agents for months tried to entice or coerce Antonini into a scheme to neutralize the scandal's threat to Fernandez's election. President Chavez long has pursued closer ties with Argentina, wooing Nestor Kirchner, Fernandez's predecessor and husband, with billions of dollars in loans.

$1.3 Million Condo

Antonini, whose girth recalls the Bobby ``Bacala'' Baccalieri character on television's ``The Sopranos,'' lives with his wife and two daughters on Key Biscayne, off Miami. Their $1.3 million condo is located in the Ocean Club, a 52- acre complex with a lake, tennis courts and nine pools. He likes pricey watches, fast cars and Porcão, a nearby all-you-can-eat Brazilian steakhouse. He has two Porsches, records show.

``He's loved by many people around here,'' said Julian Pelea, whose watch-repair shop services Antonini's Rolexes. Other than $15,000 timepieces, his attire isn't flashy, Pelea added. ``He is a very sincere person.''

Antonini took up U.S. residency as early as 1991, when he first got an American driver's license. He's an officer in five Florida companies, including one that owns a $4.7 million house on stilts on Key Biscayne, according to state records that don't describe the businesses. His attorney, Theresa Van Vliet, said she can't discuss the case.

Chartered by Enarsa

The Cessna Citation jet that took Antonini from Caracas to Buenos Aires' Jorge Newbery Airport in August was chartered by Energia Argentina SA, or Enarsa, Argentina's state energy company. He was invited aboard hours before takeoff, U.S. authorities said. The seven other passengers included officials from Enarsa and Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, that nation's energy company, authorities in the countries said.

Nothing caught Telpuk's eye until the last piece of the jet's luggage passed through her scanner, she said. Antonini approached. Telpuk recounted this exchange in the interview:

``This is my suitcase,'' he said.

``Sir, what did you bring in your suitcase?'' she asked.

``Some books.''

``What else do you have in there?''

``I also have some papers.''

``Open the suitcase.'' He hesitated. She insisted: ``Open it.'' As he unzipped it, she saw cash wrapped in rubber bands. ``He wasn't aggressive,'' Telpuk said. ``He was a real gentleman.''

Presidential Palace

Argentine authorities seized the money, questioned Antonini and released him. A witness told Argentine prosecutors that Antonini attended a reception two days later at the presidential palace in Buenos Aires following an energy-agreement signing with Venezuela. Argentine Cabinet Chief Alberto Fernandez denied that Antonini was there.

Local news media disclosed the cash seizure the night of the reception, and it quickly dominated front pages in both countries. Stories questioned if the money was intended for Fernandez's campaign, which already faced criticism over corruption probes involving her husband's administration.

Argentina said PDVSA officials asked to bring Antonini on the plane and on Aug. 9 fired its highway-concessions chief, one of the passengers, for granting the request. An Argentine judge, seeking to question Antonini about smuggling, issued an arrest warrant on Aug. 16.

`Transgressions'

The next day, PDVSA said its inquiry into the matter uncovered ``transgressions'' of internal rules that led to a vice president's resignation. Argentina had identified that executive's son as another passenger. PDVSA didn't respond to e- mailed questions.

By late August, Antonini was cooperating with a Federal Bureau of Investigation probe in South Florida that led to the indictment of four Venezuelans and a Uruguayan. Prosecutors said they conspired to cover up Venezuela's role in trying to deliver the cash to Fernandez's campaign and the money's source. One defendant was overheard saying that a top PDVSA official's aide carried the cash onto the jet, the U.S. said.

It was a ``public-relations disaster,'' Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Mulvihill said in court. Recorded conversations make ``very clear'' that Argentina and Venezuela tried to enlist Antonini in the cover-up, the prosecutor added. ``This whole problem would go away as long as Mr. Antonini would cooperate,'' Mulvihill said. Two defendants even offered him $2 million ``on behalf of the government of Venezuela.''

Fourteen Conversations

In an FBI affidavit and the indictment, investigators describe 14 conversations Antonini had with one or more of the defendants. Mulvihill added details in court on Dec. 12 and 17.

On Aug. 23, Antonini met at the mahogany paneled Jackson's Steakhouse in Fort Lauderdale with several men, including two Venezuelans -- Franklin Duran, 40, and Carlos Kauffmann, 36, the investigators said.

Records show that Duran and Antonini are fellow officers in Florida-based Foxdelta Investments Inc. The pair have participated with Kauffmann in the Gumball 3000, an annual multi-continent luxury-car rally, Web sites about it say. Antonini and Duran were teammates in a red Ferrari 360 Spider F1 in 2006 and a yellow Porsche Carrera GT in 2007, when the entry fee was $56,000. Kauffmann drove a silver McLaren Mercedes SLR in 2007.

Duran and Kauffmann are ``extremely wealthy,'' Mulvihill said. A lawyer representing them at a Dec. 12 hearing said they ``lived squeaky-clean lives'' and ``travel constantly between Miami and Caracas.'' Both maintain homes in the Miami area, their lawyers said in court papers.

Petrochemical Partners

They are partners in Venezuela's largest privately owned petrochemical company, Industrias Venoco CA, and an oil-drilling company, Perfoalca, wrote Edward Shohat, Duran's lawyer. Duran also has ownership in an export company, Ruibal y Duran CA, and Shohat's filing said he supplies motorcycles, bulletproof vests and nightsticks to Venezuelan police. The enterprises do business with U.S. companies, the filing said.

At the steakhouse, the affidavit alleged, Duran said he had spoken to ``very high ranking'' Venezuelan intelligence and justice ministry officials about the scandal. He warned Antonini that both governments would ``pursue'' him if he denied the money was his, investigators said. Duran told him the cash was meant for Fernandez's campaign, later adding that the truth about it might cost her the election, investigators said.

Vigorous Defense

``We intend to very vigorously defend this case,'' Shohat said in an interview. ``They are going to have to prove that he was working under the direction and control of the Venezuelan government.'' Echoing criticism from Latin America, Shohat's filing said prosecutors may be trying to ``promote U.S. foreign policy aimed at embarrassing the Chavez government.''

At the meeting, Kauffmann said Antonini's children's lives were ``at risk,'' the FBI alleged. Kauffmann's lawyer, Neil Schuster, suggested in court papers that his client had ``merely reflected concern, as a friend.''

On Sept. 7, Duran flew to the U.S., drove with Antonini to Fort Lauderdale's nautically themed Quarterdeck restaurant and told him Venezuelan officials were suspicious that he was talking to U.S. authorities, investigators said. ``Duran further warned Antonini that the moment might come when nobody can save Antonini's skin,'' the indictment said.

Given a Mission

After that, investigators said, talks with Antonini mostly involved another Venezuelan, Moises Maionica, who had assured him at the steakhouse that PDVSA would pay expenses related to the cash seizure. Maionica, 36, spoke with Antonini by telephone several times, indicating he ``was given his mission'' by Venezuela's vice president's office and intelligence service, the indictment said.

Maionica arranged for a Venezuelan emissary to contact Antonini about the cover-up's details, saying that a mutual friend's name, Christian, would be a ``code'' to identify the man, the indictment said. Maionica's attorney, Lisa Hu Barquist, declined to comment.

The emissary, Antonio Jose Canchica Gomez, 37, flew to Miami Oct. 27 and met Antonini the next day at a Starbucks in Plantation, Florida, the indictment said. Canchica acknowledged the code and promised that Antonini would be ``skillfully and discretely helped,'' it said.

Canchica didn't respond to messages left at Venezuela's embassy in Cuba. The Buenos Aires-based newspaper La Nacion reported Dec. 18 that he is an intelligence agency electronic- communications specialist there.

`Counter-Surveillance'

Outside the Starbucks, FBI agents watched Canchica's driver conducting ``counter-surveillance,'' investigators said. The driver was Rodolfo Wanseele Paciello, 40, a Uruguayan. Mulvihill said Wanseele lives alone in a $550-a-month Miami studio apartment, makes $51,000 a year at an import-export company and travels widely in Latin America.

After the meeting, Wanseele drove Canchica about 43 miles ``in a circuitous route'' -- making numerous last-minute turns and going as much 35 miles per hour below the speed limit on the Florida Turnpike -- before ending up about seven miles from the Starbucks at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, the indictment said. Wanseele's attorney, Sowmya Bharathi, didn't return phone calls.

On Nov. 6 and 18, Antonini spoke by telephone with a man who called himself ``Arvelo'' and who Maionica said was Venezuela's intelligence director, the indictment said. Arvelo assured Antonini that his concerns were being addressed, investigators said.

False Paper Trail

The last meeting was on Dec. 11 in Fort Lauderdale's Bravo Restaurant, where Maionica and Duran discussed a false paper trail for the money, and Duran handed Antonini documents for use in the cover-up, investigators said.

Worried that Duran and Kauffmann were about to fly to Venezuela on Duran's plane, FBI agents arrested them that night, along with Maionica and Wanseele. A federal grand jury in Miami indicted those four and Canchica on Dec. 20 on charges of conspiracy and failing to register with the attorney general as foreign government agents, as required by law. Canchica is considered a fugitive. The others remain in custody and have pleaded not guilty. All face 10 years of imprisonment.

`Garbage'

Venezuelan President Chavez called the charges a smear aimed at undoing his tightening alliance with Argentina. President Fernandez called the case political ``garbage'' and ordered the U.S. ambassador in Argentina not to meet with anyone but Foreign Ministry officials -- restrictions normally used against hostile nations. Former President Kirchner said the country was being ``manhandled by a bunch of mobsters.'' Argentina's congress voted Dec. 19 to denounce the case; Venezuela's legislature did likewise a day later.

``This isn't about U.S.-Argentine relations,'' State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in a briefing. ``This is about individuals, who are not Argentineans, allegedly breaking laws on U.S. soil.''

As for Telpuk, she quit her airport job for a higher-paying administrative position at a private company, and began ice- skating lessons in hopes of getting on a television show that pairs celebrities with professional skaters. Telpuk's newfound fame led to her appearance on the cover of the Dec. 20 issue of Veintitres magazine, wearing nothing but a police cap and holding a strategically placed suitcase.

``I was just doing my job and never imagined what would have happened next,'' she said. ``I'm proud of what I did, even when I'm a bit scared. People stop me in the streets and congratulate me.''

To contact the reporters on this story: David Voreacos in Newark, New Jersey at dvoreacos@bloomberg.net; Eliana Raszewski in Buenos Aires eraszewski@bloomberg.net; Bill Faries in Buenos Aires at wfaries@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: January 7, 2008 23:34 EST