Brief Take
- Lawyers in Argentina have charged President Javier Milei with fraud amid the $LIBRA token scandal.
- $LIBRA lost 80% of its value after Milei withdrew from the token, leading to billions in losses.
Argentina’s President Javier Milei faces criminal fraud charges after promoting $LIBRA token via his social media handle. The token surged to a $4.5 billion valuation before crashing, sparking outrage and impeachment calls over allegations of crypto market misconduct.
Attorneys in the South American nation filed against Milei in a criminal court on Sunday, alleging that the president’s actions constituted an illicit association to commit crime, AP reported.
“Within this illicit association, the crime of fraud was committed, in which the president’s actions were essential,” said Jonatan Baldiviezo, one of the plaintiffs.
Baldiviezo is joined by lawyer Marcos Zelaya, engineer Maria Eva Koutsovitis, and former Central Bank president Claudio Lozano in the lawsuit, who all flagged the event as a “rug pull.”
How Milei’s crypto involvements backfired
Milei promoted $LIBRA on Friday via his X social media handle, presenting it as a part of the VIVA La Libertad Project, a crypto initiative supposedly aimed at funding startups and small enterprises.
Later the same day, the president withdrew his endorsement, admitting insufficient due diligence as the token’s value plummeted by 85%.
An official statement from the President’s Office stated that Milei had no involvement in the project’s development. It also clarified that Milei and other administration officials met with representatives from KIP Protocol, the project’s developer.
Argentina’s Anti-Corruption body will investigate the situation and share its discoveries with the judiciary, the statement added.
All fingers point to Milei
All fingers point to the president’s social media actions as thousands lost their hard-earned funds to the $LIBRA token crash.
Reuters reported that opposition lawyers are now also considering an impeachment trial against Milei. However, sources close to the president undermine this threat.
Hayden Mark Davis, a representative of KIP Protocol, blamed Milei for the $LIBRA token’s collapse. In a video making rounds on social media, Davis accused the president of unexpectedly withdrawing his support for the token, contradicting his prior assurances.
Data from GeckoTerminal shows that $LIBRA traded at around $0.32 at the time of writing, losing approximately 15% in the last 24 hours. $LIBRA is down by more than 80% from its all-time high price.
