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A plaintiff in the Argentine criminal case investigating the LIBRA scandal has requested the immediate arrest of two figures close to President Javier Milei, who were associated with the February token launch.<\/strong><\/p>\n Recent developments in the investigation also revealed that Milei significantly underestimated the number of Argentine retailers impacted by LIBRA\u2019s price drop.<\/p>\n The ongoing LIBRA scandal investigation in Argentina continues to complicate the position of figures closely associated with the token launch.<\/p>\n This week, both the congressional commission and the parallel criminal investigation into the LIBRA scandal saw new developments.<\/p>\n Mart\u00edn Romeo, a crypto expert and acting plaintiff in the criminal investigation, requested on Tuesday that federal judge Marcelo Mart\u00ednez de Giorgi order the detainment of Mauricio Novelli and Manuel Terrones Godoy, two advisors to the President who were quickly linked to the token launch.<\/p>\n The request follows a series of disclosures made by the congressional committee. In analyzing this information for the criminal investigation, Romeo concluded that Novelli, Terrones Godoy, and American investor Hayden Mark Davis\u2014who was also linked to the LIBRA launch\u2014made a number of irregular transactions leading up to the scandal.<\/p>\n Based on this information, Romeo requested that the court order the detention of Novelli and Terrones Godoy, who reside in Argentina. He argued they posed a flight risk because Novelli holds Italian citizenship and Terrones Godoy has permanent residency in Mexico.<\/p>\n The judge has not yet ruled on the request. Nevertheless, the latest findings present significant evidence against the individuals closely linked to the LIBRA scandal.<\/p>\n The congressional committee, led by Representative Maximiliano Ferraro, recently received new information concerning individuals associated with the LIBRA launch.<\/p>\n \u201cBased on the information requests we made to several crypto exchange platforms, we obtained data that not only directly refutes President Milei’s statements, but also begins to demonstrate the connection between the main players, both inside and outside the country,\u201d Ferraro told BeInCrypto in an interview in Spanish.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n Among the platforms that responded were Binance and Gate.io, which confirmed that Novelli had a virtual wallet with the former, while Terrones Godoy had one with the latter.<\/p>\n This information enabled the congressional committee and the plaintiffs involved in the criminal investigation to reconstruct the financial circuit before and after the launch.<\/p>\n Romeo, who gained access to the information acquired by the congressional committee, started tracking down the movements of Novelli\u2019s and Terrones Godoy\u2019s wallet addresses around the time of the LIBRA launch.<\/p>\n He was also able to trace down Davis\u2019s wallet address from when Davis reimbursed Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy the $5 million he lost following the LIBRA launch.<\/p>\n On January 30, Milei received Davis at the Casa Rosada, the headquarters of the executive branch in Buenos Aires.<\/p>\n Romeo found that Davis carried out two transfers totaling $1,015,000 USDT to a Bitget account that same day. A few days later, $695,000 worth of those funds was transferred to Novelli\u2019s Binance wallet, while the remaining $320,000 was sent to the Argentine equivalent of a small private bank linked to Novelli and Terrones Godoy.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I don\u2019t know, because I haven\u2019t received that information yet, is who the owner of the BitGet account is,\u201d Romeo clarified to BeInCrypto.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n On February 3, just eleven days before the LIBRA launch, Davis carried out another transaction. He sent $1,991,000 USDT to an unknown BitGet account.<\/p>\n \u201c$800,000 goes to a hot wallet that I don\u2019t know who it belongs to, and I don\u2019t know if I\u2019ll be able to track that down, and another $1,191,000 goes to the bank [associated with Novelli and Terrones Godoy],\u201d Romeo explained.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n A day later, security cameras recorded Novelli, his mother, and his sister manipulating several safety deposit boxes at a Galicia bank branch in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Mart\u00ednez. The footage showed Novelli\u2019s mother and sister carrying a backpack and a handbag whose contents were indiscernible.<\/p>\n According to Ferraro, the congressional committee is currently analyzing a hypothesis about whether the money Novelli and Terrones Godoy received through the private bank was the same money that Novelli presumably stored in the Galicia branch.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also examining whether Novelli withdrew that money from the safety deposit boxes following the LIBRA launch.<\/p>\n Beyond the transactions the congressional committee and Romeo were able to track down, the information received from centralized exchanges further complicates Milei\u2019s supposed participation in the LIBRA launch.<\/p>\n During an interview on national television days after LIBRA\u2019s price plummeted, Milei said that the number of Argentine investors affected by the token launch was in the single digits.<\/p>\n According to information the congressional committee received from Ripio, a leading centralized exchange in Argentina, the data paints a different picture.<\/p>\n \u201cRipio informed us that 1,358 residents in the country purchased the $LIBRA token, when Milei himself had said that “no more than five Argentinians” had been affected. He lied on national television to downplay a massive scam,\u201d Ferraro told BeInCrypto.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n This number doesn\u2019t account for the number of Argentines who used decentralized platforms to purchase the token, nor those who purchased LIBRA overseas.<\/p>\n He added that Milei has still failed to explain how he obtained the 43-character contract number he posted on his X account to promote LIBRA. Ferraro pointed out that the information was not public before that message.<\/p>\n Last month, the congressional committee also cited Milei and his sister Karina, who currently acts as the president\u2019s Secretary General, to provide testimony about their alleged participation in the event.<\/p>\n \u201cPresident Javier Milei did not respond to the request we sent him twice, which included a fairly simple and concise questionnaire. His sister, Karina Milei, also did not appear to give testimony on the two occasions she was summoned, nor did she offer any cooperation by proposing an alternative date,\u201d Ferraro added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n Novelli and Terrones Godoy, whom the commission also cited, also failed to appear.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, the commission approved a formal summons for Milei to testify. It also authorized Ferraro to seek law enforcement assistance to ensure the appearance of his sister, Karina, along with Novelli and Terrones Godoy.<\/p>\n \u201cIf they do not come to testify, we will exercise this authority as soon as the Federal Court rules on our appeal,\u201d Ferraro said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n Read original story Argentine Court Asked To Arrest The President\u2019s Allies In the LIBRA Scandal<\/a> by Camila Grigera Na\u00f3n at beincrypto.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\nJudge Weighs Arrest Request<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Committee Gathers Wallet Transaction Data<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Davis Transfers Funds After Milei Meeting<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Official Data Contradicts The President’s Claims<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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