U.S. Justice Department Investigates Milei’s Crypto Fiasco
Argentine President Javier Milei. X/ @icevainillaice
February 24, 2025 Hour: 1:54 pm
The first stage of the investigation has been assigned to the Fraud Section of the Criminal Division.
The U.S. Department of Justice has begun the initial stage of its investigation into the case of the cryptocurrency $LIBRA, following a complaint against Argentine President Javier Milei, who promoted the currency before its value plummeted.
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The complaint, filed last Monday by the Argentine law firm Moyano & Asociados, also targeted American Hayden Mark Davis of Kelsier Ventures, Singaporean businessman Julian Peh, and Argentine businessmen Mauricio Novelli and Manuel Terrones Godoy.
Davis’s company, Kelsier Ventures, and Peh’s company, Kip Protocol, were identified as the driving forces and executors behind the launch of $LIBRA, while Novelli and Terrones Godoy were allegedly the intermediaries between Milei and these foreign businessmen.
The initial data collection and analysis, the first stage of the investigation, has been assigned to the Fraud Section of the Criminal Division of the United States Department of Justice, which specializes in combating sophisticated financial and economic crimes.
The law firm that filed the complaint also notified the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which announced the creation of the Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit, specifically designed to pursue “those who seek to misrepresent innovation to harm investors and undermine confidence in new technologies,” replacing the former Cyber and Crypto Assets Unit. Meanwhile, the Argentine judiciary has also launched a formal investigation led by federal prosecutor Eduardo Taiano.
On Friday, Taiano assigned the case to the Specialized Cybercrime Prosecutor’s Unit and is seeking to establish the circumstances surrounding the creation and launch of $LIBRA, as well as the role of the previously mentioned individuals—and that of Argentine Sergio Daniel Morales, who was not included in the complaint filed in the U.S. Morales’s role in the operation remains unknown.
The Argentine government is experiencing one of its worst political crises since Milei took office in December 2023, following a post by the president in support of the launch of $LIBRA, a cryptocurrency that was supposedly intended to finance small Argentine businesses.
The currency’s value surged and inflated until major investors withdrew with multimillion-dollar profits. This triggered a collapse in its value, and as the first accusations of fraud emerged, Milei deleted his post. The far-right president claimed he acted “in good faith,” emphasized that he had publicized the cryptocurrency but did not promote it, and refused to take responsibility for those affected.
teleSUR/ JF
Source: EFE
