Argentina President Milei Embroiled In Alleged Crypto Fraud

A congressional commission in Argentina published an investigative report on Tuesday, finding President Javier Milei committed “alleged fraud” after promoting a suspected cryptocurrency scam earlier this year.

The report by the Chamber of Deputies, chaired by opposition party members, said “the facts analyzed would be compatible with an alleged fraud” and attributed the “political responsibility” of the incident to Milei and his sister and right-hand woman, Karina Milei.

Investors lost hundreds of millions of dollars on the $LIBRA meme coin that Javier Milei hailed in a social media post in February, saying: “The world wants to invest in Argentina. $LIBRA.”

Industry experts have called the operation a “rug pull” — a scam where developers unveil a crypto token, attract investors, then quickly cash out — and when $LIBRA went from boom to bust in the space of a day, the Argentine president later claimed he “did not know the details of the project.”

Dozens of legal complaints have since been filed against Javier Milei and those involved in $LIBRA, cases which were later centralised under a judge and prosecutor in charge of the investigation.

The legislative commission said in its report that it submitted its conclusions to the court investigation, though any further action by Congress on the $LIBRA case is unknown.

New legislators elected in October’s midterm elections take office on December 10, with the new governing body comprising more Milei supporters, which would make Congress less likely to pursue the case further.

The commission was unable to interview the president or his sister for the inquiry, as neither appeared for questioning when they were summoned.

AFP