Buenos Aires, Feb. 18, (dpa/GNA) – Argentinian President Javier Milei is embroiled in a crypto scandal after several lawyers and opposition politicians filed fraud charges against him before a criminal court, multiple media reports said on Monday.
Milei is accused of promoting a cryptocurrency – called $LIBRA – on social media, which collapsed in value only hours later.
Judge María Romilda Servini has been tasked with investigating the complaints.
Milei published a message on the platform X on Friday evening, praising a “private project” intended to “stimulate the growth of the Argentinian economy.”
“The world wants to invest in Argentina. $Libra,” read the post, which Milei deleted hours later.
He later stated, “I was unaware of the project’s details, and after learning about them, I decided not to promote it further.” He further asserted that he had no connection to the company.
Critics argue that Milei engaged in a manoeuvre known as a “rug pull,” a fraudulent scheme in the crypto sector. This involves attracting as many investors as possible with a new cryptocurrency. Once the currency’s value has surged significantly, major stakeholders sell their shares, or pull the rug out from under it, causing the currency to collapse.
The left-wing opposition Popular Unity party accuses the president of being “part of an illegal association” that has committed a “mega-fraud,” allegedly affecting “more than 40,000 people with losses of more than $4 billion.”
The party has announced impeachment proceedings, for which Milei’s opponents would need a two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives and later in the Senate. Political observers currently deem a successful impeachment unrealistic. Although Milei’s party has few representatives, it can rely on support from conservative parties.
The Argentinian government launched an “urgent investigation” over the weekend. Milei himself involved the Anti-Corruption Office to determine whether there was “improper conduct by a member of the national government, including the president himself.”
GNA