Argentina president sued for promoting cryptocurrency $LIBRA News
President.am, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Argentina president sued for promoting cryptocurrency $LIBRA

Argentine lawyers filed fraud complaints on Sunday against President Javier Milei over his promotion of cryptocurrency. President Milei shared an advertisement for cryptocurrency $LIBRA via X on Friday, claiming that the coin would help fund small businesses.

President Milei included a link to purchase $LIBRA in his post. His promotion caused a steep increase in the coin’s sales. President Milei then deleted the post, and the value of $LIBRA drastically decreased. The coin’s investors lost most of their money.

After the series of events, the President has already engaged with the Anti-Corruption Office to investigate whether there is any improper conduct of government officials, including himself. The President’s Office also announced the creation of a task unit to investigate any alleged misconduct.

Attorney Jonatan Baldiviezo is a plaintiff in the action against President Milei. He has spoken out about the allegations of fraud and called for others to share information regarding the President’s actions.

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, the former president of Argentina, has also spoken out against President Milei’s promotion of $LIBRA. Former president Kirchner stated that President Milei is a “crypto scammer” and called for justice to be served.

President Milei’s actions have also caught the attention of Argentina’s opposition party. The party released a statement calling the incident an “unprecedented scandal.” Argentina has a history of political division, with strong support for both far-right and far-left movements. President Milei’s election in 2023 marked a victory for the far-right movement in Argentina. His campaign was based on promises for drastic change, such as swapping the Argentine peso for the US dollar and privatizing Argentina’s state energy company.

The fraud complaint against President Milei has been assigned to Judge María Servini of Federal Court No. 1 of Buenos Aires. Additionally, Esteban Paulón, a member of Argentina’s Socialist opposition party, stated that he would request the start of impeachment hearings for President Milei.

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