Argentine Attorneys brought fraud complaints alleging President Javier Milei was involved in a fraudulent LIBRA project.
Argentine lawyers confirm fraud complaints charges against the South American leader alleging he promoted crypto on personal social media. The charges filed on Sunday, Feb 16, indicated that while President Milei deleted the promotional post captured on X, investors in the LIBRA project lost millions of dollars.
LIBRA Rug Pull?
The fraud charges allege a rug pull incident since President Milei’s promotion saw the LIBRA crypto surge to over $4 billion in market value following its Friday launch. The accelerated leap was shortlived as the coin crashed spectacularly hours later.
Political opponents of President Milei brought the charges filed in the Argentine criminal court. The Associated Press publication clarified the charges were backed by the former Argentine Central Bank head, Claudio Lozano.
The filing identifies the team behind LIBRA as Kelsier Ventures, a crypto investment firm, and its chief executive, Hayden Davis. The team executed the indeterminate frauds involving President Milei in their dark scheme.
Did the President Promote the Fraudulent Project?
Lawyer Jonatan Baldivieao, who admitted to being the victim of the fraud, revealed that Milei’s actions were critical within the illicit association. The President initially promoted the LIBRA token on a late Friday post alongside a link redirecting to the Viva La Libertad project website.
Milei disclosed in the since-deleted post that the private project is dedicated to nurturing Arengitne’s economic growth. As such, it will prioritize funding small startups and Argentine businesses.
Milei reportedly endorsed the LIBRA token that ran on Solana, informing his 3.8 million followers on X about the potential of the private initiative to stimulate economic growth. The endorsement elevated the LIBRA price above $4.50, translating to a market value of over $4.50 billion. Unfortunately, it nosedived 90%, eroding millions in the investors’ funds.
The post by the Argentine president sent shockwaves across the digital assets industry, similar to the surprise meme coin unveiling by President Donald Trump. The move attracted criticism and excitement alike as observers and traders questioned the project’s legitimacy. The Official Trump (TRUMP) has surrendered substantial gains to slump 76% from the $73.43 peak realized on Jan 19 to hover within the $17- $19 price range in the past 24 hours, per CoinGecko data.
LIBRA suddenly crushed with blockchain analytics firms Chainalysis and Bubblemaps, both concerned about notable red flags following the token launch. Notably, Bubblemaps disclosed that 82% of the LIBRA token supply remained clustered in a few wallets. This implies that a few individuals exercised control over most LIBRA supply.
As traders attempted to sell off positions, the token plunged 89% in price. Bubblemaps alleges that the team behind the token cashed out $87 million using USDC and Solana network native token SOL from the project’s liquidity pools that are involved in servicing LIBRA.
Milei-LIBRA Controversy
The Milei-LIBRA controversy escalated following the revelation by Hayden Mark Davis, the project’s advisor and developer, affirmed the promotional campaign was executed with the President’s team involved.
A look into the official statement from the Presidential Office illustrates Milei’s meeting with the KIP Protocol’s team on October 19. The representatives briefed the President on intentions to unveil Viva la Libertad as a blockchain-based project to finance private ventures in the country.
The plaintiff indicated that as LIBRA imploded, Milei deleted the initial post. He posts a subsequent post disavowing the LIBRA project. He noted that he admitted to supporting the private venture with the initial X post within hours of the debut, though he held no connections.
Milei reveals inadequate awareness of the project’s details, which, upon their discovery, compelled him to discontinue promoting the project. This explains the move to delete the post, leaving the token to tank at over 96% of its all-time high price.
The explanation hardly convinced the attorneys who now pursue to hold Milei accountable for his role in the rug pull. The Argentine criminal court is to assign a judge who would refer the case to a prosecutor.
