Trips, properties, and cash payments: Suspicions of corruption plague Milei’s chief of staff
Manuel Adorni has defended himself again before the press while the judicial investigation into his alleged illicit enrichment continues
Corruption cases continue to plague Javier Milei’s government. Cabinet Chief Manuel Adorni reappeared before the local press on Monday and denied illicit enrichment, but just minutes after his statement, new developments emerged in the legal case investigating him: a supplier testified that Adorni paid him $245,000 in cash without an invoice for lavish renovations on one of the properties he has acquired since becoming a public official. Meanwhile, a new scandal has reached the courts regarding millions of dollars in irregular expenses detected at Nucleoeléctrica Argentina, the company that operates Argentina’s nuclear power plants. These expenditures include payments for five-star hotels, beach services, hair salons, bars, duty-free shops, and cash withdrawals.
Beset by accusations of living far beyond his declared income, Adorni, a leading figure in Milei’s far-right government, held his first press conference in over a month. His appearance coincided with the reopening of the Casa Rosada to journalists. In an unprecedented move, the government had barred the press from entering the building for 10 days after accusing a team of journalists of espionage. Access was restored on Monday, but with restricted and limited movement.
“I have already given the explanations I need to give to the public and the Chamber of Deputies. If I have to give further explanations, I will do so in the appropriate forum, which is the courts,” Adorni said, defending himself against press questions about his expenditures over the past two years. Last week, when he presented his management report to the deputies, he used similar arguments. He also did not respond this Monday when asked about the alleged payment of undeclared bonuses to high-ranking government officials.
A former journalist, Adorni served as presidential spokesperson from December 2024 and last November assumed the role of coordinating minister. During that time, with a salary that until January was around 3.5 million pesos (approximately $2,500) per month, it is estimated that he traveled both domestically and internationally, purchased at least two properties, and incurred debts totaling close to $800,000.
Almost at the same time as the press conference, the case investigating Adorni’s alleged illicit enrichment was progressing in the Buenos Aires courts. On Monday morning, construction contractor Matías Tabar testified. He had been in charge of renovating one of the new properties owned by Adorni and his family. The property in question is a house in the gated community of Indio Cuá, in the Buenos Aires province town of Exaltación de la Cruz, purchased in 2024 for $120,000, $100,000 of which was loaned by two police officers through a mortgage to be paid off this year.
The contractor claimed his work consisted of remodeling floors and walls, installing furniture, a heated pool with a jacuzzi, and a waterfall in the garden, according to local press reports. For all of this, he stated, Milei’s chief of staff paid him $245,000 in cash, without issuing an invoice. This revelation strengthens suspicions about the undeclared origin of the funds.
The scandal involving Adorni is one of a series of alleged corruption cases that have tarnished the far-right government and are damaging Milei’s image, according to the vast majority of opinion polls. These include, among other events, the dismissal a week ago of the secretary of infrastructure coordination, Carlos Frugoni, after it was revealed that he owns undeclared properties and businesses in the United States, and the judicial investigation for the same reason of the head of the tax collection agency, Andrés Vázquez. Also included is the granting of multimillion-dollar mortgage loans from public banks to high-ranking government officials and legislators. In addition, there are two particularly sensitive judicial investigations for Milei: the fraud involving a cryptocurrency he himself promoted, $Libra, and the bribery network in the purchase of medications for the National Disability Agency.
The latest case added to the list is that of Nucleoeléctrica Argentina. The data on irregular expenses with the firm’s corporate credit cards came from an appendix to the report that Adorni himself presented to the Chamber of Deputies, at the request of opposition legislators.
The document details expenditures made with approximately 100 credit cards issued to senior and technical staff, totaling 443 million pesos (about $313,000), between March 1, 2025, and February 12, 2026. The purchases were made in more than 20 countries and included stays in five-star hotels, expenses at restaurants and cafes, supermarkets, clothing stores, hair salons, tourist attractions, and airport duty-free shops. It also includes more than 500 cash advance transactions.
Based on this information, opposition congressman Esteban Paulón, of the Socialist Party, filed a legal complaint on Monday requesting an investigation into the alleged embezzlement of public funds. The complaint targets the officials responsible for Nucleoeléctrica: Adorni; Minister of Economy Luis Caputo; and Demian Reidel, who headed the company during the period under investigation.
Removed from his post last February, Reidel is a physicist and economist very close to Milei. He was his chief advisor, and the president even said two years ago that together they were preparing a text in which they were “rewriting much of economic theory.” “If it turns out well,” Milei said at the time, “I’ll probably get the Nobel Prize in Economics along with Demian.”
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