Argentina’s Federal Oral Tribunal 2 has ordered former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and eight co-defendants to reimburse the state for 684.99 billion pesos, an amount equivalent to about US$535 million. The court gave the group 10 business days, until 13 August, to deposit the sum into a judicial account at Banco de la Nación Argentina. Failure to comply will trigger the seizure and auction of assets already under embargo, the judges wrote. The payment order follows a forensic valuation by Supreme Court accountants that quantified the damage to the public purse in the so-called Vialidad case, which exposed irregularities in 51 road-construction contracts in Santa Cruz province. In June the Supreme Court upheld six-year prison terms and lifetime bans from public office for Fernández de Kirchner, 72, and businessman Lázaro Báez; the former president has been serving her sentence under house arrest because of her age. Also liable for the restitution are former public-works secretary José López and ex-officials Nelson Periotti, Mauricio Collareda, Raúl Daruich, Juan Carlos Villafañe, Raúl Pavesi and José Santibáñez, whose sentences range from three-and-a-half to six years. The tribunal said the obligation is joint and several, declining to apportion individual shares. Defense teams have not indicated whether they will appeal the reimbursement order.