A corruption scandal is rocking Argentina. It involves allegations of bribery and kick-backs in exchange for lucrative business contracts. The misconduct allegedly took place during two Presidential administrations. Details were first printed in an Argentinian newspaper, leading to the arrests of several businessmen and former government officials. CGTN's Joel Richards explains.

It has become known as the "notebook scandal" - because of the evidence contained inside a series of journals kept by a former driver employed by the Argentine government. Inside, his hand-written details of journeys in which he says he ferried tens of millions of dollars in bribe money from business leaders to high-ranking officials of the Kirchner administrations. The allegations reach the very top. This week former Argentine president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner appeared in court, summoned to give testimony in the case. She declined to speak but in a written statement, denied any involvement. The case, sparked by investigative reporting by La Nation newspaper - which obtained the driver notebooks - has also produced what's become a long line of prosecution "collaborators" -- business leaders seeking plea bargains.

JOEL RICHARDS BUENOS AIRES "Many analysts are suggesting that the sheer scale of this investigation means that this could become Argentina's lava jato, a reference to the far-reaching corruption scandal in Brazil known as Carwash that affected the business and political class alike."

The director of the non-governmental organization Citizen Power says there are differences with the Brazil case, but both reflect a deep-rooted culture of corruption in politics.

PABLO SECCHI DIRECTOR, CITIZEN POWER "It is a huge case in which we are discovering the network of corruption especially in public works in the previous government together with construction companies, companies that were meant to give a service to the citizens. These notebooks have opened up this relationship between companies and civil servants, and behind this is also money financing politics."

Beyond the notebook scandal, political financing has also come under scrutiny in recent weeks. Buenos Aires province governor Maria Eugenia Vidal announced an audit of campaign contributions after an investigation by another media outlet alleged money laundering. And then fired the party treasurer. Despite similarities to Brazil's Car Wash scandal, Delia Ferreira of Transparency International says she's concerned about a sense of apathy in Argentina.

DELIA FERREIRA DIRECTOR, TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL "Lava jato (in Brazil) lasted four years of investigations and it was in a different institutional context. Plus there was an important difference which was the commitment of people and public opinion to support these champions who fought against corruption. In Argentina, the most recent polls show that people are not so concerned about corruption cases and are more worried about what happens with the national economy."

Latin American nations have dealt with major corruption scandals differently. For now in Argentina, it is the courts now leading investigations, after accusations of looking the other way for many years. Joel Richards, CGTN, Buenos Aires.