Court clears Milei siblings in $LIBRA cryptocurrency case

Federal Judge Marcelo Martínez de Giorgi on Friday dismissed the criminal case against President Javier Milei, his sister Karina Milei and nine other defendants over the promotion of the '$LIBRA' cryptocurrency that collapsed in February 2025, causing investors an estimated US$100 million in losses.

“The reported events do not constitute a criminal offence,” Judge Marcelo Martínez de Giorgi said in a ruling.

The judge ordered the case to be closed and archived once the decision becomes final, accepting a request by prosecutor Eduardo Taiano to dismiss the investigation.

The case centred on the previously unknown $LIBRA cryptocurrency, which Milei promoted in a social media post on February 14, 2025.

“The world wants to invest in Argentina. $LIBRA,” he wrote, before deleting the message hours later as the token’s value crashed.

Milei subsequently denied promoting the virtual currency, saying he had not known the details of the project.

The President responded to the ruling with a series of posts on social media, including a quotation attributed to a philosopher that read: “Truth triumphs on its own; lies always need complicity.”

In a separate post on X, the President demanded compensation for what he described as more than 20 months of false accusations intended to damage his reputation.

“And now, who is going to compensate me for a year, eight months and nine days of lies, slander and libel intended to tarnish my good name and honour?” he wrote.

'Rug pull'

Industry experts have described the operation as a “rug pull,” a form of cryptocurrency fraud in which developers launch a token, attract investors and then cash out, leaving buyers with assets that have lost much of their value.

The investigation sought to establish whether a coordinated scheme had taken place and whether the President had been involved. None of those under investigation were called to give formal testimony as a suspect.

Martínez de Giorgi ruled that the losses suffered by investors and the token’s dramatic rise and fall were insufficient, in themselves, to establish fraud without evidence of deception that met the threshold for criminal liability. The allegations centred on claims that a small group of operators had made substantial profits while thousands of investors suffered losses.

The judge also dismissed allegations of abuse of authority and incompatible public office dealings, finding that Milei’s social media post had not been accompanied by administrative acts or the use of state resources.

Martínez de Giorgi's ruling also cleared Presidential Chief-of-Staff Karina Milei, the President's sister, who had been investigated over allegations that she facilitated meetings between the entrepreneurs behind the cryptocurrency and her brother in exchange for payments.

The judge found insufficient evidence that she had received money for arranging the contacts.

“Facilitating a contact or helping to organise a meeting does not, in itself, amount to influence peddling,” the judge wrote.

Other defendents

The nine other defendants cleared include businessman Mauricio Novelli, Manuel Terrones Godoy, former National Securities Commission (CNV) adviser Sergio Morales and US entrepreneur Hayden Mark Davis, who was linked to the token’s launch.

The remaining defendants were Chyi Haur Peh, known as Julian Peh; María Alicia Rafaele; María Pía Novelli; Camilo Rodríguez Blanco; and Orlando Mellino.

The scandal raised questions about the President’s involvement in promoting a speculative digital asset and the connections between his administration and those behind the project.

The dismissal brings the criminal investigation to a close unless the ruling is successfully challenged.

The ruling follows a separate development in the United States, where a New York court rejected a class-action lawsuit against those behind $LIBRA at first instance in September, citing legal deficiencies in the filing. The US proceedings were separate from the domestic criminal investigation.

– TIMES/AFP/NA