“The president would have provided the indispensable collaboration to complete the operation,” concludes the report of the investigative commission created by the Argentine Congress to analyze the alleged fraud involving the $Libra cryptocurrency and Javier Milei’s role in the events. The document also states that Parliament must assess whether the president has committed “poor performance in the exercise of his duties”. Presented on Tuesday to the Chamber of Deputies, the report was drawn up by blocs opposed to the far right, after three months of investigation. The ruling party questioned the legality of the findings but did not submit an alternative statement.
On February 14, Milei published an invitation to invest in $Libra on his social media accounts, just at the exact moment the cryptocurrency was launched on the market. Along with the link to purchase the digital asset, he wrote: “This private project will be dedicated to stimulating the growth of the Argentine economy by financing small Argentine businesses and initiatives.”
Although Milei “promoted it as an investment tool,” according to the parliamentary report, $Libra was, in fact, “a memecoin previously designed for a rug pull by a group with inside information.” The creators of the cryptocurrency or other related traders bought $Libra at a low price, and after Milei’s announcement which increased demand, they sold it at a much higher price. The mass sell-off by its major holders caused a sharp drop in the value of $Libra.
A total of 114,410 virtual wallets suffered losses due to the system; 498 lost more than $100,000 and 3,144 lost between $10,000 and $100,000, according to the statement approved by lawmakers from the Union for the Fatherland (a Peronist party), the left-wing Workers’ Front, the Civic Coalition, the Radical Civic Union, the Encuentro Federal (a centrist group) and others. In contrast, 36 virtual wallets each earned more than $1 million.
The commission’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 parties involved access to the president to carry out an act investigated as an alleged fraud of international scope.” The fact that Milei published on his social media “a contract number that was not publicly available (…) strengthens the hypothesis of a preventive and direct link with the creators of the cryptocurrency”.
Before the launch of $Libra, Milei had had meetings with US entrepreneur Hayden Davis, the main creator of the cryptocurrency, and with Singaporean businessman Peh Chyi Haur (aka “Julian Peh”), another figure involved. Their relationship was allegedly facilitated by two cryptocurrency traders, Mauricio Novelli and Manuel Terrones Godoy, and by Sergio Morales, then advisor to Argentina’s National Securities Commission.
According to the investigative commission, the data provided by international cryptocurrency platforms – in cases where it was possible to trace the transactions – “confirmed the economic links and transfers of funds between the main people involved (Hayden Davis, Mauricio Novelli, Manuel Terrones Godoy, Sergio Morales)”. For the legislators “there was no valid reason for the 16 meetings (Milei) had with the people involved”.
The report highlights two further key points. First, he warns that the $Libra case “was not an isolated incident,” stressing that “a similar financial scheme involving the digital currency of KIP (Peh Chyi Haur’s company), in which the president also participated by promoting it,” together with other subjects involved. Secondly, it is noted that both in the previous case with $KIP and in the $Libra case, the president did not involve state control agencies. “This repeated behavior”, concludes the document, “makes plausible the hypothesis that there was a deliberate attempt to evade institutional controls”.
Tuesday’s meeting of the commission of inquiry was attended by deputies from Milei’s La Libertad Avanza party. Although they did not present an alternative proposal, they rejected the report and argued that the opposition had not gained sufficient support to take it forward.
Nonetheless, the commission sent its findings to the judiciary, which is conducting a long-delayed investigation into the alleged fraud. He also expressed frustration with both the executive and judiciary branches for their lack of cooperation with the investigation. In this regard, the committee announced that it will file complaints against officials who may have failed to fulfill their duties. His proposal to initiate impeachment proceedings against Milei, in order to evaluate his possible “poor performance”, has no chance of advancing in Congress, even less after December 10, when part of the legislature will be renewed and the far right will gain the seats won in the recent mid-term elections.
Sign up to our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition
