Milei Dissolves Investigative Unit Probing $Libra Cryptocurrency Scandal
Argentine President Javier Milei. X/ @Cooperativa
May 20, 2025 Hour: 1:53 pm
The unit’s mandate was to determine whether there were irregularities in the promotion of the cryptocurrency.
On Tuesday, Argentine President Javier Milei dissolved the Investigative Task Force Unit (UTI), which had been created in February to investigate irregularities surrounding $Libra, a cryptocurrency whose promotion by the far-right politician caused losses for thousands of investors worldwide.
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“The government considers that the information collected has been submitted to the Public Prosecutor’s Office and that the UTI has fulfilled the task assigned by Decree No. 114/25,” stated the decreee published in the Official Gazette, signed by President Milei and Justice Minister Mariano Cuneo Libarona.
The UTI had been established following the scandal linked to the $Libra cryptocurrency, which Milei promoted on Feb. 14. His endorsement temporarily boosted its value before it plunged, leading to multimillion-dollar losses for investors.
Milei appointed Maria Florencia Zicavo, chief of staff at the Justice Ministry and a close aide to Cuneo Libarona, as head of the unit. Her mandate was to determine whether there had been any “irregularities or acts of corruption” related to the promotion of the cryptocurrency.
Zicavo was authorized to issue operational and supplementary regulations, and to request information from national and international entities, without incurring additional budgetary expenditures.
In April, the Milei administration issued a decree limiting the powers of the Financial Information Unit — the state agency responsible for preventing and combating money laundering linked to serious crimes — to intervene in the investigation.
Meanwhile, judicial systems in Argentina, the U.S., and Spain are pursuing separate investigations into the role of President Milei and his sister, Karina Milei — who serves as secretary to the presidency — in possible fraudulent schemes involving the cryptocurrency. On April 8, the Argentine Congress also approved the creation of a commission to investigate the case.
teleSUR/ JF
Source: EFE
