An Argentine law firm filed a criminal complaint with the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Feb. 17, pointing to the protagonists behind the downfall of the LIBRA token, according to Clarin, a newspaper in Argentina. The complaint also asks that the role of Argentine President Javier Milei be investigated.
On another legal front, Civic Coalition ARI filed a criminal complaint on Feb. 17 requesting that the Ministry of Justice investigate claims of bribery and fraud allegedly promoted by President Milei, adding that the “government cannot be judge and jury.”
The LIBRA token rallied on Feb. 14 after President Milei posted about the project on X. The post, now deleted, emphasized that the project would go to funding “small Argentine businesses and start-ups” and included the contract address, leading the token to rise to a $4.56 billion market cap before plummeting to $257 million just hours later.
These latest legal challenges build on earlier criminal charges filed in Argentina, accusing Milei of participating in fraud by endorsing the token.
Source: Civic Coalition ARI
Related: Milei-endorsed Libra token was ‘open secret’ in memecoin circles — Jupiter
In turn, the government has been trying to distance the Argentine president from the scandal, saying that Milei was “scammed” in good faith by the traders who launched LIBRA and that he was unaware of the funding mechanism.
President Milei may ultimately face impeachment charges after the country’s fintech chamber acknowledged that LIBRA could be a rug pull.
“This scandal, which embarrasses us on an international scale, requires us to launch an impeachment request against the president,” opposition lawmaker Leandro Santoro told Reuters on Feb. 16.
Related: Argentine lawyers hit Milei with fraud charges, class action over LIBRA
US President Donald Trump posted to Truth Social on Feb. 17, sharing a picture of Milei and the words, “If printing money would end poverty, printing diplomas would end stupidity.” On X, Milei reposted several screenshots of Trump’s post.
Source: Juan Doe
In an interview with Coffeezilla, LIBRA founder Hayden Davis defended the token’s collapse as a failure rather than a scam and said, “All the bitching on socials is all the people that don’t get into the deals. You’ll never hear them bitch if they’re in the deal.”
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