Donation to Milei’s party triggers scrutiny of Santiago Caputo’s employer

On July 18 earlier this year, Lucas Costa donated three million pesos to La Libertad Avanza in Formosa. He is one of the partners in Zefico SA, the company that 12 days later was reported to the Unidad de Información Financiera (UIF) anti-money-laundering watchdog for suspicious transactions.

Zefico SA has links to the top of government. In January 2024 – just weeks after President Javier Milei took office – it had top presidential advisor Santiago Caputo as its sole employee. 

Friendship, work and politics – the link between Caputo and the Costa family has it all.

Costa’s donation appears on the Aportantes de Campaña CNE website, a platform managed by Argentina’s Cámara Nacional Electoral (“National Electoral Chamber”) where all financial contributions made by individuals or legal entities to political groups during campaigns must be registered. The businessman earmarked three million pesos for the “Desenvolvimiento institucional 2025” category and sent it via a transfer from Banco Santander Río.

Earlier this week, journalist Camila Dolabjian revealed in the La Nación daily that, between April and June 2025, Zefico received US$800,000 into its accounts via two transfers made by Lucas Costa and María Costa, the children of Pablo Costa. All three are listed as partners in the firm.

The amount of money involved and the fact that this was the first time any such transactions had been recorded by the company, raised red flags with local banking authorities, who requested clarification from the Costa family. 

The responses were deemed insufficient, and so the institution reported the suspicious activity to the UIF, citing the risk of potential money-laundering operations.

When UIF head Paul Starc learned that the press had gained access to the report, he ordered the organisation’s Technology Directorate to review the list of officials who had accessed the organisation's financial intelligence system. His aim was to identify who had accessed the Suspicious Activity Report, or ROS, in order to find out who had leaked the information.

The internal investigation yielded no results, so Starc filed a criminal complaint with the local courts and federal prosecutor Carlos Stornelli. The UIF chief argued that the information was confidential and claimed the leak constituted an “extremely serious” matter.

In his submission, Starc did not mention Zefico SA by name, instead referring to “a legal entity presumably reported by a banking institution.” 

While the official moved swiftly to identify the source of the ROS leak, he made no comment regarding the link between the company under suspicion and the presidential adviser. This could be somewhat awkward – it was Caputo who recommended him for the role.

Santiago Caputo and Francisco Caputo: employees of the Costas

This developing story puts the spotlight on Santiago Caputo. When La Libertad Avanza won the 2023 presidential election, the consultant chose not to become a formal government official at the Casa Rosada, opting instead to invoice for his services as an adviser. 

In January, 2024, just two weeks after the new government took office, he was hired as the only employee of Zefico SA.

According to Argentina’s Official Gazette, Zefico SA was incorporated in 2021 with the stated aim of conducting agricultural and livestock activities. Listed as company directors are Pablo José Costa, Carmen Costa, María Costa, and Lucas Costa.

The notary involved in setting up the company was José Domingo Mangone, who also helped establish Anker, the influential consultancy firm linked to Economy Minister Luis ‘Toto’ Caputo (a relative of Santiago Caputo) and Central Bank Governor Santiago Bausili.

In April 2023, Pablo and María Costa were appointed to the board of another of their father's companies: Camalu SA, which specialises in the purchase and sale of agricultural products. 

According to reporting by Rodis Recalt in Noticias magazine, the company also hired the presidential adviser’s brother, Francisco Caputo, as an employee. Francisco operates behind the scenes for the government and is said to be involved in coordinating the Fundación Faro think tank, led by outspoken commentator Agustín Laje.

Lucas Costa and Santiago Caputo go way back. They have been friends since childhood. They were neighbours at the Martindale country club, where their fathers — Pablo José Costa and the late notary Claudio Caputo — also developed a close friendship.

Such is the trust between the families. The Costas not only employed the Caputo brothers, they also chose to back the presidential adviser’s party with a three-million-peso donation to help move the campaign forward in Formosa.