Argentina’s congressional commission accuses President Milei of fraud in $LIBRA role

Argentina’s Congress has released a final investigative report accusing President Javier Milei of “alleged fraud” for promoting the LIBRA crypto in March, which resulted in millions of dollars in losses for investors. 

According to the commission’s findings, compiled after months of inquiry, the collapse of the token may have hailed from a “deliberate will to evade institutional controls,” rather than simple oversight failures.

The report, titled “LIBRA WAS NOT AN ISOLATED EVENT,” concludes that Milei used his presidential authority to boost LIBRA’s visibility. The commission propounded that his now-deleted social media post helped the crypto token hit significant purchase volume numbers, which subsequently led to losses for more than 114,000 virtual wallets. 

Cryptopolitan reported that 498 wallets each lost over $100,000, 3,144 lost between $10,000 and $100,000, while 36 wallets earned more than $1 million from the purported “rug-pull” project.

The Argentine congress committee calls Millei a fraud

Juan Marino, the secretary of the investigative committee, said President Javier Milei used the top seat’s investiture to allow the LIBRA scam to effectively take place. 

“Without his tweet, LIBRA would not have had the volume of purchases it did. The president presumably provided indispensable cooperation for carrying out the scheme,” Marino jotted down in the report.

Milei has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, insisting he “shared” information about the project without knowledge of its details as a mere “fanatic techno optimist” trying to transform Argentina into a “technology hub.” In the aftermath of LIBRA’s plummet, the President told reporters he had merely “taken a slap” for “trying to help an Argentine.”

The investigative committee’s report mentioned Milei had several meetings with figures involved in LIBRA’s creation, including US entrepreneur Hayden Davis and Singaporean businessman Peh Chyi Haur, also known as Julian Peh. 

These meetings were allegedly facilitated by two crypto traders, Mauricio Novelli and Manuel Terrones Godoy, and Sergio Morales, a former adviser to Argentina’s National Securities Commission.

Data traced from international cryptocurrency platforms reportedly confirmed “economic ties and fund transfers” among the individuals, which the legislators’ claim supports their sentiment of Milei’s involvement. 

According to the commission, there was no valid reason for Milei to have held 16 meetings with the parties implicated in the cryptocurrency’s development and promotion, unless he purportedly wanted to benefit.

Milei’s sister, Karina Milei, the presidential chief of staff, allegedly “facilitated the use of official national government facilities and granted the involved parties access to the president” to execute what the committee is investigating as an international fraud.

LIBRA was not an isolated incident, the committee claims

In one part of the 200-page-long report, legislators cited a December 2024 case involving Peh Chyi Haur’s KIP Protocol digital currency, which Milei had also promoted without the approval of state regulators like the National Securities Commission (CNV).

President Milei publicly endorsed KIP shortly before its liquidity pools were drained, which is exactly how it occurred with LIBRA. On-chain analysis mentioned in the report also showed operator Manuel Terrones Godoy converted KIP tokens into USDT and transferred the funds to his associate Mauricio Novelli on the very day the token launched publicly.

“This reiterated behavior makes plausible the hypothesis that there was a deliberate intent to evade institutional controls,” Juan Marino and his fellow legislators surmised.

Tuesday’s session of the investigative committee included legislators from Milei’s party, La Libertad Avanza (Freedom Advances), who rejected the report because “the opposition lacked sufficient support” to push it forward. 

The committee submitted its conclusions to a court investigation, though no timetable has been set for Congressional action, and future proceedings may not take place.

New lawmakers are set to take office on December 10, with a composition more favorable to Milei, which could reduce Congress’s willingness to make and pursue inquiries into the LIBRA case.

The committee faced significant obstacles during its inquiry when both President Milei and his sister Karina failed to appear after being summoned for questioning. Lawmakers cited a “total lack of cooperation” from the administration because several other officials did not comply with the summons. 

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