Argentine congressional committee says Milei played key role in the alleged $Libra scam

“The president presumably provided indispensable cooperation for carrying out the scheme,” concludes the report by the investigative committee created by the Argentine Congress to analyze the alleged fraud involving the cryptocurrency $Libra and the role of Javier Milei in the events. The document also states that Parliament must evaluate whether the president committed “poor performance in the exercise of his duties.” Presented on Tuesday in the Chamber of Deputies, the report was drafted by blocs opposed to the far right, following three months of investigation. The governing party questioned the legality of the conclusions but did not submit an alternative statement.

On February 14, Milei published on his social media accounts a call to invest in $Libra, at the exact moment the cryptocurrency was being launched to the market. Along with the link to buy the digital asset, he wrote: “This private project will be dedicated to stimulating the growth of the Argentine economy by funding small Argentine businesses and ventures.”

Although Milei “promoted it as an investment instrument,” according to the parliamentary report, $Libra was, in reality, “a memecoin previously designed for a rug pull by a group with privileged information.” The creators of the cryptocurrency or other related operators bought $Libra at a low price and, after Milei’s announcement boosted demand, sold it at a much higher price. The mass sell-off by its main holders caused the value of $Libra to collapse abruptly.

A total of 114,410 virtual wallets suffered losses from the scheme; 498 lost more than $100,000, and 3,144 lost between $10,000 and $100,000, according to the statement endorsed by legislators from Union for the Homeland (a Peronist party), the Workers’ Left Front, the Civic Coalition, the Radical Civic Union, Encuentro Federal (centrist group), and others. In contrast, 36 virtual wallets each earned more than $1 million.

The committee’s final report, which exceeds 200 pages, finds that Milei “used the presidential office,” and that his sister Karina Milei, the presidential chief of staff, “facilitated the use of official national government facilities and granted the involved parties access to the president to carry out an act being investigated as an alleged fraud of international scope.” The fact that Milei posted on his social media “a contract number that was not publicly available [...] strengthens the hypothesis of a prior and direct link with the creators of the cryptocurrency.”

Prior to the launch of $Libra, Milei had held meetings with U.S. entrepreneur Hayden Davis, the main creator of the cryptocurrency, and with Singaporean businessman Peh Chyi Haur (alias “Julian Peh”), another implicated figure. Their relationship was allegedly facilitated by two crypto traders, Mauricio Novelli and Manuel Terrones Godoy, and by Sergio Morales, then an adviser to Argentina’s National Securities Commission.

According to the investigative committee, data provided by international cryptocurrency platforms — in the cases where transactions could be traced — “confirmed the economic ties and fund transfers between the main individuals involved (Hayden Davis, Mauricio Novelli, Manuel Terrones Godoy, Sergio Morales).” For the legislators, “there was no valid reason for the 16 meetings [Milei] held with the individuals involved.”

The report makes two additional key points. First, it warns that the $Libra case “was not an isolated incident,” pointing out that “in December 2024, a similar financial scheme was recorded involving the digital currency of KIP Protocol [Peh Chyi Haur’s company], in which the president also participated by promoting it,” along with the other implicated individuals. Second, it notes that in both that earlier case with $KIP and the $Libra case, the president failed to involve state oversight agencies. “This reiterated behavior,” the document concludes, “makes plausible the hypothesis that there was a deliberate intent to evade institutional controls.”

Tuesday’s meeting of the investigative committee was attended by legislators from Milei’s party La Libertad Avanza (Freedom Advances). Although they did not submit an alternative proposal, they rejected the report and argued that the opposition did not secure enough support to move it forward.

Even so, the committee sent its conclusions to the judiciary, which is conducting a long-delayed investigation into the alleged fraud. It also expressed frustration with both the executive and the judicial branch for their lack of cooperation with the investigation. In that regard, the committee announced that it will file complaints against officials who may have failed to fulfill their duties. Its proposal to initiate impeachment proceedings against Milei, in order to assess his possible “poor performance,” has no chance of advancing in Congress — even less so after December 10, when part of the legislature will be renewed and the far right will gain the seats it won in the recent midterm elections.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition