EYEBROWS were raised when in 2011 the Argentine president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, picked Amado Boudou to serve as vice-president for her second term. The floppy-haired, guitar-strumming, Harley Davidson-riding Mr Boudou was considered, even by some of Ms Fernández’s closest allies, to be a lightweight. That judgment underplayed his capacity to damage his boss.

On June 9th Mr Boudou appeared before a federal judge for questioning. The closed session focused on allegations that, as minister of economy in 2010, Mr Boudou ordered Argentina’s AFIP tax agency to stop bankruptcy proceedings against Ciccone Calcográfica (now CVS), a firm that prints Argentine bank notes, in return for a shell company to which he supposedly had links taking a 70% stake. Mr Boudou then allegedly used his influence to wrangle tax breaks and government contracts for the business. The vice-president flatly denies wrongdoing and says he had no improper involvement with the firm.

Journalists and opposition politicians have raised questions about Mr Boudou’s association with Ciccone since early 2012. But the issue has only recently made its way to the courts. The judge will question other witnesses and defendants before deciding whether formally to charge Mr Boudou, to investigate further, or to drop the case. A conviction could mean up to six years in jail. If Mr Boudou were to be put on trial, he could resign, ask for permission temporarily to suspend his duties, or soldier on.

The president will be hoping it does not come to that. Ms Fernández has so far danced around the Boudou affair; she avoided any mention of it in a speech the day after he gave testimony. According to Sergio Berensztein, a political analyst, she is in a lose-lose situation. “Speak out in favour of Boudou, and, if he is convicted, she’ll look bad. Speak out against him, and she’s admitting to her own weakness.”

The president’s core supporters remain loyal. The proportion of people regarding her positively fell by only two points between April and May, when Mr Boudou’s travails began to attract more news coverage. But according to Management & Fit, a pollster, her negative-image scores jumped from 34% to 45% over the same period. “This scandal has not so much changed public opinion as it has polarised society,” says Mr Berensztein.