Argentina: Probe Finds $5 Million Deal Linked To Milei

Argentine Probe Finds Alleged $5 Million Deal Linked to Milei in Crypto Scandal ARGENTINA Argentina Argentine investigators this week uncovered new evidence allegedly linking a $5 million deal to President Javier Milei in the $LIBRA cryptocurrency scheme that saw thousands of investors lose more than $250 million, Merco Press reported Monday. The controversy began in February 2025 when Milei promoted $LIBRA, a digital asset, on social media as part of a project to encourage investment in Argentine businesses. The asset’s price briefly surged after his endorsement but collapsed within hours, leaving tens of thousands of investors with heavy losses. Judicial investigators over the weekend recovered a draft note, among several others, from the phone of businessman Mauricio Novelli, an intermediary between the asset’s promoters and Milei’s office, which outlined the purported multimillion-dollar agreement in exchange for the president’s backing. While observers said that Novelli’s notes do not prove that Milei accepted or signed the agreement or received any payment, the new evidence strengthens the bribery hypothesis in a case authorities have described as a possible transnational fraud scheme. Authorities said there is still no public proof that such an agreement was formally validated by the government. They said that the note was written between October and November 2024, before businessman Hayden Davis – who was linked to the crypto venture – traveled to Argentina. The digital asset, or token, was launched on Feb. 14, 2025. According to the note, the arrangement involved a $1.5 million advance payment, another $1.5 million after Milei announced online that Davis and his associates are his advisors, and an additional $2 million linked to a proposed in-person advisory contract with Milei on blockchain technology. Phone records also showed that dozens of calls and messages were exchanged between Novelli and Milei during the launch of the token, authorities said. Only a small group with early or privileged access made millions off its launch, officials said last year. Milei later distanced himself from the project, saying he had found online the contract code needed to buy $LIBRA and simply posted it on X. But computer specialists called by Argentina’s Congress said the code was not available online when Milei posted it. A lower house investigative commission concluded in November that Milei provided “essential collaboration” to the project and said that Congress should consider whether he committed misconduct in office, potentially opening the door to impeachment proceedings. However no timetable has been set for further action, and political observers say the case is unlikely to advance.