Argentina Says Fugitive Spy Fled to US After Prosecutor's Death

Argentina’s former head of intelligence, “Antonio” Jaime Stiusso, a suspect in the suspicious death of prosecutor Alberto Nisman, traveled from Brazil to the United States in January, Argentina's security ministry said Tuesday.

The ministry said Interpol provided the information on Stiuso after a "blue notice" was sent out last month seeking details on his whereabouts, confirming a report in April that Stiusso had fled the country.

Stiuso reportedly flew from Porto Alegre to Miami on Feb. 19 using an Italian passport. Argentina suspects Stiuso is seeking refuge in the United States.

Stiusso, who worked at the now disbanded Intelligence Secretariat, is the main suspect in the mysterious death of Nisman, who was overseeing an investigation into the 1994 bombing of a Jewish cultural center. Nisman was found dead in his apartment on January 18, 2015, the same day he was to present his findings to Argentine lawmakers.

RELATED: The Death of Argentine Attorney Alberto Nisman

​Nisman had been appointed to investigate the theory that the government of Iran was involved in the bombing, which killed 85 people and wounded hundreds more. The Argentine government openly speculated that Stiusso was secretly working for the United States and criticized Washington for failing to answer repeated inquiries about his whereabouts.

Argentine President Cristina Fernández has alleged Stiusso fed Nisman false information implicating her government in an official cover-up of Iranian involvement in the attack, ostensibly to protect growing trade relations between Argentina and the Islamic Republic.

RELATED: New Evidence in Nisman Case Points to Former Intelligence Chief

"When he was alive they needed him to present the charges against the president. Then, undoubtedly, it was useful to have him dead," Fernández’s chief of staff, Anibal Fernandez, said in January.

According to a testimony from Alberto Massino, a former analysis director at the Intelligence Secretariat, Nisman called Stiusso a day before his death, trying to reach him.

The death of Nisman rocked Argentina, with some trying to pin the blame on the government.

Nisman's findings proved to have major loopholes, lending credence to the theory that someone was giving him false information to undermine the government. Argentine courts have repeatedly dismissed the allegations of an official conspiracy.