LIBRA class-action against Milei

It seems things are heating up for Argentina’s President, Javier Milei. Reports are swirling that Argentine lawyers have officially filed criminal charges against him. The reason? Allegedly promoting a cryptocurrency that went on a wild ride – a brief pump followed by a dramatic crash – just last weekend.

Let’s dive into the specifics. This all centers around the “Libertad” project and its Solana token, Libra (LIBRA). After Milei gave it a shout-out on X (formerly Twitter), Libra’s market cap skyrocketed to a whopping $4.56 billion on February 14th. But the joyride was short-lived. Once Milei deleted his post, the token plummeted, losing over 94% of its value. Naturally, accusations of a classic “pump and dump” scheme quickly followed.

Leading the charge are lawyers Marcos Zelaya and Jonatan Baldiviezo, joined by engineer María Eva Koutsovitis and economist Claudio Lozano. This group has officially lodged a criminal complaint, arguing that Milei was involved in fraud by promoting Libra. This information comes straight from a February 17th Associated Press report, according to their account.

And the accusations don’t stop there. Baldiviezo is also claiming that Milei broke Argentina’s Public Ethics Law. This law is designed to keep public officials in check, requiring them to be transparent about their assets and any potential conflicts of interest.

Baldiviezo didn’t mince words, stating, “Within this illicit association, the crime of fraud was committed, and the president’s actions were absolutely essential to its execution.”

According to the same Associated Press report, the next step is for a judge to be assigned to the case. Alternatively, it could be handed over to a prosecutor for a deeper dive into the matter, potentially as early as February 17th.

Adding to the legal pressure, another Argentine lawyer, Agustín Rombolá – founder of the Rombola Mangione law firm – has also thrown his hat in the ring. He’s filed his own separate legal complaint against Milei, also centered around the Libra promotion.

Rombolá, who also has ties to the Argentine political party Unión Cívica Radical, publicly stated on X on February 16th that he’s reported Milei for a string of alleged offenses: “fraud, negotiations incompatible with public office, price manipulation and financial crimes,” to be precise.

Adding another layer to this developing story, Rombolá also mentioned that his law firm is gearing up to file a class-action lawsuit. This would be on behalf of anyone who invested in Libra and ended up losing money in the token’s dramatic crash.

So far, Argentina’s presidential office hasn’t issued an official response to requests for comment on these escalating legal challenges.

Interestingly, in the aftermath of the token’s nosedive, Milei himself apparently took a proactive step. He reportedly asked the Anti-Corruption Office to launch an investigation into all government members, including himself, for any potential wrongdoing related to this. The findings, according to a statement from Argentina’s presidential office, will be shared with the courts.

The presidential office maintains that Milei wasn’t fully in the loop about the project’s specifics when he initially endorsed it. They also stated he has no connection to the company that launched the cryptocurrency.

However, there’s a twist. Milei has acknowledged that he did meet with representatives from KIP Protocol back on October 19th in Argentina. At this meeting, he was briefed on the blockchain project, according to his own disclosure.

KIP Protocol, described as a Web3 company focused on AI payment infrastructure, has clarified its role. They say they were brought in as a tech consultancy to help distribute project funds to local businesses in Argentina. However, they’re also stating clearly that they didn’t create the Libra token or act as a market maker for it.

Adding to the skepticism, some analysts have also voiced concerns about the project’s legitimacy. They point to the fact that Libra’s website domain was only registered mere hours before the token launched, and crucially, there’s no publicly available information about who actually owns it.

And just when you thought the situation couldn’t get any more dramatic, opposition lawmaker Leandro Santoro has reportedly told Reuters that he’s planning to launch an impeachment request against the president.